DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

"Sustainable Communities in the East of England"

Alistair Burt: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received from Bedfordshire following publication of his plans 'Sustainable Communities in the East of England'.

Tony McNulty: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister is working closely with Bedfordshire County Council, Bedfordshire authorities, infrastructure providers and other local and regional partners, on detailed Assessments of the growth potential of the Luton and Bedford/Marston Vale areas. Both towns are key locations with the Milton Keynes and South Midlands growth area.

"Sustainable Communities in the East of England"

Alistair Burt: To ask the Deputy prime Minister what representations he has received from Bedfordshire following publication of his plans 'Sustainable Communities in the East of England'.

Tony McNulty: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister is working closely with Bedfordshire County Council and Bedfordshire districts, as well as infrastructure providers, on detailed assessments of the growth potential of the Luton and Bedford/Marston Vale areas. Both towns are key locations within the Milton Keynes and South Midlands growth area.

Regional Government

Andrew MacKay: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress he has made in establishing regional governance in England.

Nick Raynsford: The Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Bill had its Report and Third Reading in the House of Commons on 23 January 2003 and received its Second Reading in the other place on 24 February 2003. The Bill provides for the English regions to hold referendums about an elected assembly, and for a review of two-tier local government by the Boundary Committee before a referendum is held in a particular region.
	As my right hon. Friend said earlier we have invited responses by 3 March 2003 to the soundings exercise.

Local Government Finance

Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the local government settlement for councils in east Sussex.

Nick Raynsford: I refer the hon. Member to the debate on the local government finance settlement 2003–04 which took place on 5 February 2003, Official Report, columns 353–406 and to the letter sent to the hon. Member on 3 February setting out the above-inflation grant increases for all councils in east Sussex.

Local Government Finance

James Clappison: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received from south eastern local authorities regarding the local government funding settlement.

Nick Raynsford: 28 authorities in the south east responded to our consultation on the local government finance settlement 2003–04. In addition, eight authorities from this region came in to see Ministers to make representations on our proposals during this consultation period. Parliament has, of course, now approved the settlement which provides an increase in Government grant of £3.8 billion overall. This is an increase of 8 per cent. representing a continued significant real terms investment in local government.

Cash Incentive Scheme

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many cash incentive scheme grants were made by each local authority in London in 2001–02; and what the total value was of these grants in each case.

Tony McNulty: The number of cash incentive scheme grants made by those London borough's running schemes in 2001–02 and the total value of grants made are in the following table.
	
		
			  Total numberof grants Total expenditure (£000) 
		
		
			 Barnet 32 686 
			 Camden 33 797 
			 Croydon 49 975 
			 Enfield 49 1,183 
			 Haringey 18 354 
			 Harrow 1 20 
			 Havering 3 37 
			 Hillingdon 16 221 
			 Islington 7 193 
			 Kingston upon Thames 16 305 
			 Lewisham 34 607 
			 Merton 9 206 
			 Sutton 1 22 
			 Tower Hamlets 36 579 
			 Waltham Forest 19 592 
			 Wandsworth 35 756 
			 Westminster 15 429

Council House Sales

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many council houses have been sold in each year since 1997 in (a) the Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear and (d) the UK.

Tony McNulty: Information is not available below local authority level. The available information reported by South Tyneside MBC and the other metropolitan borough councils comprising Tyne and Wear is in the following table, together with estimated number of sales in Great Britain. Information on the total number of council house sales in the United Kingdom in each year since 1997 is currently incomplete.
	
		Sales of council dwellings in south Tyneside, Tyne and Wear and Great Britain: 1997–98 to 2001–02
		
			 All sales 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 
		
		
			  
			  
			 South Tyneside 283 209 355 (1)— (1)— 
			 Gateshead 326 283 452 445 510 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 267 207 316 266(3) 569 
			 North Tyneside 202 209 345 338 396 
			 Sunderland 642 546 713 (2)37,534 0(3) 
			 Tyne and Wear 1,720 1,454 2,181 N/a N/a 
			 Great Britain  
			 Total sales 95,764 133,118 168,773 202,365 106,320 
			 Of which to owner occupiers 59,513 56,298 71,965 69,779 69,061 
		
	
	(1) Not reported
	(2) Includes 36,356 dwellings transferred by Sunderland City Council to Sunderland Housing Group in March 2002
	Note:
	Where there has not been full reporting, the figures in brackets indicate the number of quarters for which complete information is available within the financial year.
	Source:
	DOE/DETR/DTLR/ODPM quarterly P1B return

Fire Service Deaths

Michael Weir: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) deaths in incidents attended by firefighters at night and (b) deaths in incidents attended by firefighters during day shift hours there were in each fire brigade area in the last year for which figures are available.

Nick Raynsford: The latest data available are tabled as follows. These show fires and deaths occurring in fires attended by local authority fire brigades between the following time periods; (i) 9 am and 5.59 pm (i.e. the standard day shift), (ii) between 6 pm and 23.59 pm and (iii) between midnight and 8.59am. The "night" period has been split into more comparable time intervals rather than one 15 hour duration.
	The time of the fire is defined as the time at which the emergency call was received by the local authority fire brigade and may differ in some circumstances from the time at which the fire actually started.
	Information on deaths occurring in other incidents attended by fire crews (such as road traffic accidents) is not available by time of incident.
	
		Deaths in primary fires(3) by brigade and time of day, UK, 2001–02(4)
		
			  Total 09:00–17:59  18:00–23:59 
			 Brigade Fires Deaths Fires Deaths Rate per 1,000 fires Fires Deaths Rate per 1,000 fires 
		
		
			 United Kingdom 228,087 635 79,207 227 2.9 89,662 154 1.7 
			 (Estimates are shown in brackets)(5)   (614)  
			  
			 England and Wales 201,433 520 70,157 191 2.7 79,888 125 1.6 
			 (Estimates are shown in brackets)(5)   (498)  
			  
			 England 188,701 481 65,749 179 2.7 74,843 117 1.6 
			  
			 England-Non-Met Counties 105,588 276 37,792 108 2.9 40,959 69 1.7 
			 Avon 4,883 7 1,414 1 0.7 2,032 1 0.5  
			 Bedfordshire(6) 2,045 5 603 1 1.7 797 3 3.8  
			 Berkshire 2,649 5 947 2 2.1 902 3 3.3  
			 Buckinghamshire 2,729 8 1,021 3 2.9 1,063 4 3.8  
			 Cambridgeshire 2,373 4 808 2 2.5 879 1 1.1  
			 Cheshire 3,403 6 1,243 4 3.2 1,230 0 0.0 
			 Cleveland 3,600 7 1,269 4 3.2 1,573 0 0.0 
			 Cornwall 1,472 7 647 2 3.1 447 2 4.5 
			 Cumbria 1,666 4 683 2 2.9 585 1 1.7 
			 Derbyshire 2,832 10 992 4 4.0 1,139 4 3.5 
			 Devon 3,329 7 1,455 2 1.4 1,105 2 1.8 
			 Dorset 1,950 8 693 5 7.2 742 1 1.3 
			 Durham 2,398 6 841 0 0.0 1,014 4 3.9 
			 East Sussex 2,822 7 1,054 1 0.9 1,038 5 4.8 
			 Essex 4,597 10 1,632 6 3.7 1,774 1 0.6 
			 Gloucestershire 1,720 6 658 2 3.0 621 1 1.6 
			 Hampshire 4,344 14 1,795 8 4.5 1,584 3 1.9 
			 Hereford and Worcester 2,083 4 843 3 3.6 791 0 0.0 
			 Hertfordshire 2,826 9 1,023 6 5.9 1,126 3 2.7 
			 Humberside 3,846 7 1,295 5 3.9 1,588 0 0.0 
			 Isle of Wight 406 0 186 0 0.0 147 0 0.0 
			 Kent 5,152 21 1,766 6 3.4 2,094 4 1.9 
			 Lancashire 5,801 18 2,133 7 3.3 2,176 3 1.4 
			 Leicestershire 3,254 14 1,121 8 7.1 1,319 3 2.3 
			 Lincolnshire 1,861 5 679 3 4.4 793 0 0.0 
			 Norfolk 2,282 8 816 2 2.5 845 3 3.6 
			 North Yorkshire 2,088 2 703 0 0.0 876 0 0.0 
			 Northamptonshire 2,663 4 903 2 2.2 1,058 0 0.0 
			 Northumberland 1,205 2 374 1 2.7 522 1 1.9 
			 Nottinghamshire 5,503 9 1,638 3 1.8 2,521 1 0.4 
			 Oxfordshire 1,885 5 751 3 4.0 637 2 3.1 
			 Shropshire 1,604 4 594 2 3.4 657 1 1.5 
			 Somerset 1,787 10 676 3 4.4 606 1 1.7 
			 Staffordshire 3,217 9 1,068 1 0.9 1,326 3 2.3 
			 Suffolk 1,642 4 554 0 0.0 653 0 0.0 
			 Surrey 2,447 3 969 0 0.0 866 1 1.2 
			 Warwickshire 1,534 8 505 2 4.0 602 3 5.0 
			 West Sussex 2,214 4 805 1 1.2 741 2 2.7 
			 Wiltshire 1,474 5 632 1 1.6 492 2 4.1 
			 Isles of Scilly 1 0 1 0 0.0 0 0 — 
			  
			 England-Met Counties 83,113 205 27,957 71 2.5 33,884 48 1.4 
			 Greater Manchester 16,309 37 5,251 17 3.2 6,736 9 1.3 
			 Merseyside 8,334 17 2,833 3 1.1 3,591 4 1.1 
			 South 5,548 21 1,590 8 5.0 2,389 6 2.5 
			 Yorkshire 
			 Tyne and Wear 6,518 7 2,293 2 0.9 2,684 0 0.0 
			 West Midlands 12,862 37 4,372 14 3.2 5,391 12 2.2 
			 West Yorkshire 11,641 16 3,308 6 1.8 5,109 4 0.8 
			 Greater London 21,901 70 8,310 21 2.5 7,983 13 1.6 
			  
			 Wales 12,732 39 4,408 12 2.7 5,045 8 1.6  
			 North Wales 2,362 17 844 7 8.3 824 4 4.9  
			 Mid and West Wales 3,947 13 1,521 4 2.6 1,539 1 0.6  
			 South Wales 6,423 9 2,043 1 0.5 2,682 3 1.1 
			  
			 Northern Ireland 6,991 19 1,957 7 3.6 2,318 2 0.9  
			  
			 Scotland 19,663 96 7,093 29 4.1 7,456 27 3.6 
			 Strathclyde 9,522 40 3,211 10 3.1 3,704 15 4.0  
			 Highland and Islands 665 4 293 1 3.4 180 2 11.1  
			 Grampian 1,664 16 625 6 9.6 565 7 12.4  
			 Tayside 1,599 10 604 1 1.7 658 0 0.0 
			 Lothian and Borders 3,731 14 1,350 4 3.0 1,456 2 1.4 
			 Fife 1,229 5 478 3 6.3 430 1 2.3 
			 Central 886 5 376 2 5.3 339 0 0.0 
			 Dumfries 368 2 155 2 12.9 126 0 0.0 
		
	
	
		
			  00:00–08:59  Time of incident unknown 
			 Brigade Fires Deaths Rate per 1,000 fires Fires Deaths 
		
		
			 United Kingdom 59,191 252 4.3 27 2 
			 (Estimates are shown in brackets)(5)  
			   
			 England and Wales 51,367 202 3.9 22 2 
			 (Estimates are shown in brackets)(5)  
			   
			 England 48,088 183 3.8 22 2 
			   
			 England-Non-Met Counties 26,826 97 3.6 11 2 
			 Avon 1,438 5 3.5 0 0 
			 Bedfordshire(6) 645 1 1.6 0 0 
			 Berkshire 800 0 0.0 0 0 
			 Buckinghamshire 644 1 1.6 0 0 
			 Cambridgeshire 685 1 1.5 0 0 
			 Cheshire 930 2 2.2 0 0 
			 Cleveland 758 3 4.0 0 0 
			 Cornwall 377 3 8.0 0 0 
			 Cumbria 398 1 2.5 0 0 
			 Derbyshire 701 2 2.9 0 0 
			 Devon 770 3 3.9 0 0 
			 Dorset 516 2 3.9 0 0 
			 Durham 543 2 3.7 0 0 
			 East Sussex 725 1 1.4 5 0 
			 Essex 1,192 3 2.5 0 0 
			 Gloucestershire 440 3 6.8 0 0 
			 Hampshire 965 3 3.1 0 0 
			 Hereford and Worcester 450 1 2.2 0 0 
			 Hertfordshire 676 0 0.0 0 0 
			 Humberside 963 2 2.1 0 0 
			 Isle of Wight 73 0 0.0 0 0 
			 Kent 1,292 11 8.5 0 0 
			 Lancashire 1,493 8 5.4 0 0 
			 Leicestershire 814 3 3.7 0 0 
			 Lincolnshire 389 2 5.1 0 0 
			 Norfolk 621 3 4.8 0 0 
			 North Yorkshire 508 2 3.9 0 0 
			 Northamptonshire 703 2 2.8 0 0 
			 Northumberland 309 0 0.0 0 0 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,344 5 3.7 0 0 
			 Oxfordshire 497 0 0.0 0 0 
			 Shropshire 353 1 2.8 0 0 
			 Somerset 505 6 11.9 0 0 
			 Staffordshire 817 3 3.7 6 2 
			 Suffolk 435 4 9.2 0 0 
			 Surrey 612 2 3.3 0 0 
			 Warwickshire 426 3 7.0 0 0 
			 West Sussex 668 1 1.5 0 0 
			 Wiltshire 351 2 5.7 0 0 
			 Isles of Scilly 0 0 — 0 0 
			   
			 England-Met Counties 21,26 86 4.0 10 0 
			 Greater Manchester 4,322 11 2.5 0 0 
			 Merseyside 1,905 10 5.2 5 0 
			 South 1,568 7 4.5 0 0 
			 Yorkshire  
			 Tyne and Wear 1,541 5 3.2 0 0 
			 West Midlands 3,099 11 3.5 0 0 
			 West Yorkshire 3,224 6 1.9 0 0 
			 Greater London 5,603 36 6.4 5 0 
			   
			 Wales 3,279 19 5.8 0 0 
			 North Wales 694 6 8.6 0 0 
			 Mid and West Wales 888 8 9.0 0 0 
			 South Wales 1,698 5 2.9 0 0 
			   
			 Northern Ireland 2,710 10 3.7 5 0 
			   
			 Scotland 5,113 40 7.8 0 0 
			 Strathclyde 2,608 15 5.8 0 0 
			 Highland and Islands 192 1 5.2 0 0 
			 Grampian 474 3 6.3 0 0  
			 Tayside 337 9 26.7 0 0 
			 Lothian and Borders 924 8 8.7 0 0 
			 Fife 321 1 3.1 0 0 
			 Central 171 3 17.5 0 0 
			 Dumfries 87 0 0.0 0 0 
		
	
	(3) A primary fire is any fire in a building or vehicle and/or a fire which involved casualties or rescues. Includes late call and heat and smoke damage incidents (not recorded prior to 1994).
	(4) Provisional.
	(5) The fatality figures for 2001–02 are likely to be revised as later information becomes available. Estimates for the revised totals for United kingdom and England and Wales are shown in brackets.
	(6) Since publication of 'Fire Statistics Monitor-Q1 2002' Bedfordshire has supplied data for quarter 1 2002. This means the figures here differ slightly from those previously published.

Housing Regeneration

Vera Baird: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assistance he will give to areas with significant housing regeneration needs which are not Pathfinder areas.

Tony McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is investing billions of pounds in housing over the next three years. Local authorities through their housing strategies can use these resources, alongside those of their partners, to tackle the housing problems they face. Authorities now have the chance to make a real long lasting difference for their communities.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is aware that Redcar is an area with significant difficulties in terms of low demand housing. This was recognised in the draft regional housing strategy prepared by the North East Housing Forum and it is likely to be priority for the new regional housing board.

Local Authority Housing

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the current debt is in each English authority's housing revenue account; and if he will estimate the cost of debt redemption charges if the debt was cancelled.

Tony McNulty: Local authorities manage their debt corporately so there are no separate data for debt in respect of housing. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does however make estimates of national housing debt for the purposes of housing revenue account subsidy calculations. This is listed for each authority as the Mid-Year Subsidy Credit Ceiling for 2003–04 in Schedule 6 Column 1 of The Housing Revenue Account Subsidy Determination 2003–04. This Schedule can be seen at http://www. housing.odpm.gov.uk/03hrad/fmal/index.htm.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not have detailed knowledge of the debt of each authority and so we cannot estimate the cost of debt redemption charges if debt were cancelled.

Local Authority Housing

Lynne Jones: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list those local authorities whose housing revenue accounts are (a) in surplus and (b) in deficit, providing for each (i) the average surplus or deficit per dwelling and (ii) the number of dwellings.

Tony McNulty: The information has been placed in the Library.

Local Authority Housing

Paul Marsden: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the value of housing capital receipts not recycled into capital housing spend was in each of the last five years in each (a) borough and (b) district council in Shropshire.

Tony McNulty: Authorities are required to set aside up to 75 per cent. of housing capital receipts to be used only (unless the authority becomes debt-free) for debt redemption or paying off credit arrangements. The accumulated balance of usable receipts may then, at the authority's discretion, be used to support their capital programme. Information reported by local authorities in Shropshire on gross housing capital receipts, and the level of usable capital receipts applied to their housing capital programme, is in the following table.
	
		Total housing capital receipts  -- £000
		
			  1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 
		
		
			 Bridgnorth 1,603 1,780 2,205 1,348 1,591 
			 North Shropshire 1,337 1,191 1,827 1,739 1,760 
			 Oswestry 535 747 1,643 1,429 1,080 
			 Shrewsbury and Atcham 2,457 2,837 3,364 3,101 62,846 
			 South Shropshire 310 224 437 197 280 
			 Telford and Wrekin 3,795 96,913 213 1,996 2,688 
		
	
	
		Usable capital receipts applied to housing capital programme  -- £000
		
			  1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 
		
		
			 Bridgnorth 548 627 401 0 359 
			 North Shropshire 345 313 360 278 368 
			 Oswestry 98 115 68 0 0 
			 Shrewsbury and Atcham 802 434 360 1,057 499 
			 South Shropshire 895 859 853 819 677 
			 Telford and Wrekin 290 3,105 439 2,112 2,071 
		
	
	Note:
	Large scale voluntary transfers of council stock undertaken by Telford and Wrekin in March 1999, and by Shrewsbury and Atcham in October 2001.
	Source:
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister annual Housing Investment Programme and COR returns

Local Authority Housing

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the authorities who have not (a) transferred their housing stock and (b) set up an Arms-length Management Organisation.

Tony McNulty: The local housing authorities in England that had not transferred all of their housing stock or been successful in achieving full Arms-length Management Organisation status at the end of February are listed below.
	Adur
	Alnwick
	Arun
	Ashford
	Aylesbury Vale
	Babergh
	Barking and Dagenham
	Barnet
	Barnsley 2
	Barrow-in-Furness
	Basildon
	Bassetlaw
	Berwick-upon-Tweed
	Birmingham
	Blaby
	Blackpool
	Blyth Valley 2
	Bolsover
	Bolton 2
	Bournemouth
	Bracknell Forest
	Braintree
	Brent 2
	Brentwood
	Bridgnorth
	Brighton and Hove
	Bristol
	Bromsgrove 1
	Broxbourne
	Broxtowe
	Bury
	Cambridge
	Camden
	Cannock Chase
	Canterbury
	Caradon
	Carrick 2
	Castle Morpeth
	Castle Point
	Charnwood
	Cheltenham 2
	Cherwelll
	Chesterfield
	Chester-le-Street
	Chorley
	City of London
	Colchester 2
	Copeland 1
	Corby
	Craven 1
	Crawley
	Croydon
	Dacorum
	Darlington
	Dartford
	Daventry
	Derwentside
	Doncaster
	Dover
	Dudley
	Durham
	Ealing
	Easington
	East Devon
	East Riding of Yorkshire
	Eastbourne
	Ellesmere Port and Neston
	Enfield
	Epping Forest
	Exeter
	Fareham
	Fenland
	Forest Heath
	Forest of Dean 1
	Gateshead
	Gedling
	Gloucester
	Gosport
	Gravesham
	Great Yarmouth
	Greenwich
	Guildford
	Hackney
	Halton
	Hammersmith and Fulham
	Harborough
	Haringey
	Harlow
	Harrogate
	Harrow
	Hartlepool
	Havering
	High Peak
	Hillingdon 2
	Hinckley and Bosworth
	Hyndburn
	Ipswich
	Isles of Scilly
	Islington
	Kensington and Chelsea 2
	Kettering
	Kings Lynn and West Norfolk
	Kingston upon Hull
	Kingston upon Thames
	Lambeth
	Lancaster
	Leeds 2
	Leicester
	Lewes
	Lewisham
	Lincoln
	Liverpool
	Luton
	Macclesfield
	Maidstone 1
	Manchester
	Mansfield
	Melton
	Merton
	Mid Devon
	Mid Suffolk
	Middlesbrough 1
	Milton Keynes
	Mole Valley
	New Forest
	Newark and Sherwood
	Newcastle upon Tyne
	Newham
	North Cornwall
	North East Derbyshire
	North East Lincolnshire
	North Hertfordshire 1
	North Kesteven
	North Lincolnshire
	North Norfolk
	North Shropshire
	North Somerset
	North Tyneside
	North Warwickshire
	North West Leicestershire
	Northampton
	Norwich
	Nottingham City
	Nuneaton and Bedworth 1
	Oadby and Wigston
	Oldham 2
	Oswestry
	Oxford
	Pendle
	Peterborough
	Plymouth
	Poole
	Portsmouth
	Preston
	Purbeck
	Reading
	Redbridge
	Redditch
	Ribble Valley
	Richmondshire
	Rochford
	Rossendale
	Rotherham
	Rugby
	Runnymede
	Rutland
	Salford 2
	Salisbury
	Sandwell
	Scarborough 1
	Sedgefield
	Sedgemoor
	Sefton
	Selby
	Sheffield
	Shepway
	Slough
	Solihull
	South Bedfordshire
	South Cambridgeshire
	South Derbyshire
	South Gloucestershire
	South Holland
	South Kesteven
	South Lakeland
	South Norfolk 1
	South Northamptonshire
	South Tyneside
	Southampton
	Southend-on-Sea
	Southwark
	St. Albans
	Stafford
	Stevenage
	Stockport 1
	Stoke-on-Trent
	Stroud
	Sutton
	Swindon
	Tamworth
	Tandridge
	Taunton Deane
	Teesdale
	Teignbridge 1
	Tendring
	Thanet
	The Medway Towns
	Three Rivers
	Thurrock
	Torridge
	Tower Hamlets
	Trafford
	Uttlesford
	Wakefield
	Walsall 1
	Waltham Forest 2
	Wandsworth
	Wansbeck
	Warrington
	Warwick
	Watford
	Waveney
	Waverley
	Wealden
	Wear Valley
	Wellingborough
	Welwyn Hatfield
	West Lancashire
	Winchester
	Wirral
	Woking
	Wokingham
	Wolverhampton
	Worcester 1
	Wycombe
	York
	1 On current transfer programme
	2 On Round 2 Arms-length Management Organisation programme

Local Authority Housing

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the housing improvement resources provided to the London borough of Islington for each of the last five years and the projected expenditure for the financial year 2003–2004.

Tony McNulty: The housing resources, as allocated through the Housing Investment Programme, for London borough of Islington for the past five years are as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 1998–99 18.86 
			 1999–2000 18.15 
			 2000–01 28.56 
			 2001–02 38.3 
			 2002–03 40.24 
		
	
	The allocation for financial year 2003–04 is £39.44 million.

Local Authority Housing

Tony Clarke: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many new residential dwellings were built in the borough of Northampton in (a) 2001–02, (b) 2002–03; and how many will be built in 2003–04.

Tony McNulty: In 2001–02 935 new residential dwellings were built in the borough with 74 per cent. built on brownfield land. Based on an average over the last six years, Northampton borough council expects that there will be an average of 849 new completions per annum in 2002–03 and 2003–04.

Local Authority Housing

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the English authorities who have yet to submit an option appraisal for housing to his Department.

Tony McNulty: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister recently announced, in "Sustainable communities: building for the future", that all authorities with housing stock would, in future, need to produce objective and rigorous option appraisals, which are to be signed-off by Government regional offices, by July 2005. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will be issuing guidance to authorities about the arrangements for submitting and signing off option appraisals shortly.

Pollution (Fines)

Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much has been levied in fines by local authorities against (a) companies, (b) local authorities and (c) individuals, with regard to incidences of pollution, broken down by type of pollution incidence (i) in total, (ii) in each region and (iii) per fine in each year since 1995.

Alun Michael: Local authorities' main pollution control responsibilities are under Parts I, III and IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (industrial air pollution control, statutory nuisance, and litter respectively) and the Clean Air Act 1993.
	With regard to Part I of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, I refer the hon. Member to my reply to his question 190 on the order page of 21 February 2003,
	The Department holds no data on Part III of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
	Total fines in England and Wales with respect to Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 were as follows. The Department is unable to break down this data by region and is only available from 1997 onwards:
	
		
			 Date Total (£) 
		
		
			 1997–98 727 
			 1998–99 4,778 
			 1999–2000 2,970 
			 2000–01 2,310 
		
	
	The Department holds no data on the Clean Air Act 1993.
	Local authorities have been informed of the recently-issued toolkit—"Costing the Earth, Guidance for Sentencers"—which my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment launched on 20 November 2002, is available on the Magistrates Association website www. magistrates-association.org.uk/news/whats new.htm

Public Servant of the Year

David Laws: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister who the winners were of the Public Servant of the Year Award 2002; what the cost was of this initiative; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: I have been asked to reply.
	The Cabinet Office and the Office of Government Commerce are non financial sponsors of the Public Servant of the Year Awards. Any costs of the scheme are borne by CIPFA.
	The event is financed from the commercial sponsorship of the award ceremony by a number of leading companies. There is no cost to the public purse.
	CIPFA and Public Finance magazine are the organisers of the award and undertake all of the administrative arrangements. A small team in the Cabinet Office maintain regular contact with the organisers.
	The list of winners in 2002 are noted as follows:
	The Award for Innovation—sponsored by Zurich Municipal
	Ms Jan Nicholson, Senior Occupational Therapist, S. Derbyshire Acute Hospital NHS Trust
	The Award for Leadership—sponsored by Anon
	Ms Danielle Cotton, Firefighter, London Fire Brigade
	The Front-line Worker Award—sponsored by Eagle Star
	Mr. Bill Marney, Social Worker, Lincolnshire Social Services
	The Turn-round Manager Award—sponsored by Courtenay
	Mr. Richard Vince, Prison Service, has since been promoted
	The Social Inclusion Award—sponsored by UNISON
	Mrs. Ragbir Virdee, Project Worker, Nottingham City Social Services
	The Award for Managerial Excellence—sponsored by Reed Accountancy Personnel Mrs. Terry Owen, Volunteer Manager, Aintree Hospitals Volunteer Scheme
	The Award for Progress through Partnership—sponsored by RSM Robson Rhodes
	Mr. Noel Rice, Energy Conservation Manager, Northern Ireland Housing Executive
	The Award for Outstanding Contribution by a Non-Executive—sponsored by Task (Software) Ltd.
	Mr. Cyril Baily, Chair of Governors, Ormskirk School
	Central Government—sponsored by IFF Ltd.
	Ms Wendy Gilroy, Customer Services Officer, Benefits Agency
	Local Government—sponsored by Vantagepoint
	Ms Clare Wichbold, Regeneration Officer, Herefordshire Partnership
	Education—sponsored by Eagle Star
	Mr. Andrew Parsons, Headteacher, Plymstock School
	Health—sponsored by PPS Ltd.
	Mr. Jeremy Handley, Non Executive Director, Northgate & Prudhoe NHS Trust
	Housing—sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Housing
	Mr. Tom Manion, Chief Executive, Irwell Valley Housing Association
	Uniformed Services—Anite Public Sector
	Mr. Howard Wright, Community Constable, West Midlands Police
	Voluntary Sector—sponsored by Community Care Magazine
	Mrs. Jenni Thomas, Chief Executive, The Child Bereavement Trust
	Outstanding Public Servant of the Year—sponsored by Hewlett Packard and Amey
	Danielle Cotton, Firefighter, London Fire Brigade

Public Works Loans Commissioners

Matthew Green: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the payments to be made by the public works loans commissioners for overhanging debt in each of the next five years.

Tony McNulty: There is no estimate covering this period. Resources required by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to meet commitments for overhanging debt in each of the next five years will depend on future applications from the local authorities seeking to transfer their housing in any particular year.

Travellers

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to introduce further legislation to assist parish councils and other landowners whose land is illegally occupied by travellers.

Tony McNulty: There are no current plans to introduce further legislation to assist parish councils and other landowners whose land is illegally occupied by travellers.
	Parish councils and other landowners are able to go through the civil courts for the recovery of their land under Orders 24 and 113. Parish councils can also liaise with their county council regarding the possibility of serving a Section 77 Direction under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.

Housing Industry (Unfair Contract Terms)

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what action he and his predecessors have taken to encourage the housing industry to comply with the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 and the originating European directive.

Tony McNulty: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, East (Ms Prentice) on 12 February 2003, Official Report, column 841W.

Women's National Commission

David Laws: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the remit is of the Women's National Commission; how many staff it has; what its total costs were in each year from 1996–97 to 2003–04 (planned); and if he will make a statement.

Patricia Hewitt: I have been asked to reply.
	The remit of the Women's National Commission is to make known to Government, by all possible means, the informed opinion of women. It is able to comment freely on government policy and inform government departments of the views of women, women's organisations and NGOs.
	Currently, the WNC has a total of 10 staff. These include three permanent members of staff, one on secondment until June 2004; five temporary members of staff, all of whom will leave during the year, plus one unpaid internship.
	The budgets for the financial years specified were:
	
		
			 Year £ 
		
		
			 1996–97 243,342 
			 1997–98 233,300 
			 1998–99 299,895 
			 1999–2000 250,025 
			 2000–01 250,025 
			 2001–02 303,000 
			 2002–03 253,243 
		
	
	For the financial year 2003–04, the budget figures are yet to be confirmed by DTI.

PRIME MINISTER

Security and Intelligence Agencies

David Laws: To ask the Prime Minister what total spending on security and intelligence agencies was in each year from 1998–99 to 2004–05; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: The Security and Intelligence Agencies' combined outturns and projected budgets for each year from 1998–99 to 2003–04 can be found in the tables on page 96 of the Cabinet Office's Departmental Report (Cm 5429).
	The Department Report which will be published this spring will update this information and cover the period 1998–99 to 2005–06.

Engagements

Tam Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his diary engagements for 26 February 2003 from 1.30 pm to 7.00 pm.

Tony Blair: holding answer 4 March 2003
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Milton Keynes (Dr. Starkey) in the House on 26 February 2003, Official Report, column 250.

Iraq

Graham Allen: To ask the Prime Minister if he will publish the replies he gave between 1997 and 2001 to letters from Iraqi exiles requesting the use of armed force by the United Kingdom to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

Tony Blair: Following my speech to the Labour Party spring conference on 15 February and my monthly press conference in Downing Street on 18 February, I made available copies of letters and an e-mail that I have received from Iraqi exiles. I have placed copies in the Libraries of the House.

University Admissions

James Clappison: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 26 February 2003 to the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell, Official Report, column 257, what steps he is taking to ensure that university admissions are based on merit.

Tony Blair: holding answer 4 March 2003
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for North West Norfolk, (Mr. Bellingham) at Prime Minister's Questions today.

CABINET OFFICE

Departmental Costs

David Laws: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the costs of the Cabinet Office were in each year from 1998–99 to 2004–05 (planned); and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: The costs of the Cabinet Office for each year from 1998–99 to 2003–04 can be found in the tables in the departmental report (Cm 5429) from page 89.
	The departmental report which will be published in spring will update this information and cover the period 1998–99 to 2005–06.

Senior Civil Service

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many (a) civil servants and (b) senior civil servants were dismissed for poor performance in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: The figures for the numbers of staff who were dismissed from the civil service in the last 10 years are shown in the following table. These figures are based on headcount, permanent staff in all Departments. The data presented are for all dismissals. We do not hold separate records for poor performance as the reason for dismissal.
	
		Leavers during 1992–2001 with selected leaving cause, dismissal, all permanent staff (headcount), of which senior civil servants
		
			 Year ending 31 March All staff Senior civil servants 
		
		
			 1992 1,050 1 
			 1993 1,030 0 
			 1994 1,000 2 
			 1995 880 2 
			 1996 750 1 
			 1997 870 0 
			 1998 650 0 
			 1999 590 1 
			 2000 840 1 
			 2001 1,020 3

Senior Civil Service

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what discussions he has had with representatives from local government about widening the civil service fast-stream programme to cover local government; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: Last year officials from my Department met representatives of the Local Government Employers Organisation under the auspices of the Public Sector Employment Forum and its recruitment sub-group. They discussed graduate and fast stream recruitment but there are no plans for the civil service scheme to cover local government. The Local Government Employers Organisation launched the inaugural recruitment campaign for their National Graduate Development Programme in March 2002. The first cohort of graduates joined the programme in September 2002.

Senior Civil Service

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many Asian employees there have been in the senior civil service, broken down by Department, in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: Declaration of ethnicity in the civil service is voluntary, so any numbers obtained may be an understatement of the true position.
	For the senior civil service, the total number of staff in post of known Asian ethnic origin for each of the last five years is as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1998 17 
			 1999 17 
			 2000 20 
			 2001 26 
			 2002 24 
		
	
	This personal information is supplied to the Cabinet Office in strict confidence, and cannot be broken down further owing to small numbers and disclosure rules.

TRANSPORT

Airport Security

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the increased level of policing at UK airports; and whether the airports will meet the full cost of the additional policing.

David Jamieson: As my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for the Home Department explained in his statement to the House on 13 February, an enhanced level of security was put in place in London on 11 February, this being most visible at Heathrow Airport. This was in response to a heightening of the threat to the UK from international terrorism.
	The increase in policing at Heathrow and at other UK airports has been part of the response to this threat. The appropriate level of the additional policing is a matter for the operational judgement of Chief Officers of Police, in consultation as necessary. Where an airport has been designated under s26(3) of the Aviation Security Act 1982 policing costs are met by airport operators.
	Since September 11, police forces have been able to bid for additional funding for various counter terrorist activities, including the protection of vulnerable sites such as airports. Given the nature of the funding, publicity is not being given to the activities it covers or what has been allocated to individual forces.

A36 Relief Scheme

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reason the A36 (Wylye Valley Relief Road) Scheme has been delayed; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The Wylye Valley Relief Road was recommendation as part of the Salisbury Transport Study which was included in Wiltshire county council's Local Transport Plan in July 2000. Wiltshire county council stated in their Annual Progress Report that 'Work is continuing on developing the route options and assessing potential impacts so that a preferred Route can be adopted'. The Bristol Bath to South Coast Study which is looking at the future of the A36 will report later this year and will give an indication of what further improvements are desirable on the route. I do not consider that this study has delayed this scheme.

Departmental Policies (Northampton, South)

Tony Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Northampton South constituency, the effects on Northampton of his Department's policies and actions since June 2001.

David Jamieson: Over the last three years my Department has allocated almost £37 million to Northamptonshire county council for the implementation of the Northamptonshire Local Transport Plan (LTP) (£11.866 million in 2001–02, £11.645 million in 2002–03, and £13.395 million for 2003–04). Such plans are an essential element of the Government's integrated transport policy, as set out in "Transport 2010—the 10-Year Plan", published in July 2000, and provide the delivery mechanism for a longer-term programme of local transport improvement and modernisation across the whole country.
	Under the LTP system, funding is provided for a wide range of transport related activity, including the construction of major new road schemes, road and bridge maintenance, and the delivery of smaller integrated transport projects. While the local transport authorities, in this case Northamptonshire county council, are, quite rightly, allowed a good deal of flexibility on implementation of specific projects, they are required to submit Annual Progress Report (APRs), which include full details of the work undertaken and projects delivered in the previous year. Unfortunately, as the APR is a county-wide document, the information is not generally provided on a constituency or specific town or city basis and is reported on the financial year cycle. The following details for the 2001–02 period (April 2001-March 2002) are, however, worthy of note and provide a good example of the achievements being made:
	Traffic Reduction in Northampton—inbound car vehicle traffic reduced by 3.8 per cent.
	Increase Cycling Journeys in Northampton—0.2 per cent. increase in cycle flows.
	Increase Bus Patronage in Northamptonshire—patronage increase of 7 per cent.
	Road Casualty Reduction in Northamptonshire—killed or seriously injured figures for 2001 brought down to 29 per cent. below the 1994–98 baseline.
	A fuller range of statistics and figures on the numerous schemes the county council have introduced since April 2001 are contained in the APRs issued for 2000–01 and 2001–02, which are readily available from the council. Details for 2002–03 will be available in the summer, when the next APRs are due to be submitted.
	In addition to benefits and improvements brought about by funding under the Local Transport Plan, my Department also provides funding through the work of the Highways Agency in terms of the maintenance and improvements of the trunk road and motorway network. During the 2001–02 and 2002–03 financial years, the Agency has spent £24 million on major routes in Northamptonshire, including electronic information signs on the Ml. In addition, since April 2001 the Highways Agency has spent £128 million on major routes as part of the Government's Targeted Programme of Investment.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff were employed by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in each year since 1997.

David Jamieson: The information requested is as follows:
	
		
			 Year Number of staff employed(full time equivalent) 
		
		
			 1997 3,801 
			 1998 4,124 
			 1999 4,408 
			 2000 4,773 
			 2001 5,268 
			 2002 5,264 
		
	
	Extra staff were required by the Agency for the following reasons:
	(a) major new initiatives such as the Statutory Off-Road Notification photographs on driving licences and Graduated Vehicle Excise Duty (712 posts);
	(b) projects to implement policy changes, safeguard delivery of the core business and improve internal processes (168 posts);
	(c) increased workload such as the introduction of extended hours in the Agency's call centre, and growth of volume transactions. Between 1996–97 and 2001–02, driver and vehicle volumes increased by almost 20 per cent., from 81.8 million transactions to 97.8 million (583 posts).

London Underground

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total cost of investment is in the East London Extension; and if he will make a statement on its progress.

David Jamieson: The business case for the project is being considered by Ministers. I hope a decision will be announced shortly.

London Underground

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the estimated date is for the handover of responsibility for the London Underground to Transport for London; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: I refer my hon. Friend to the written statement which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State made to the House on 4 February 2003, Official Report, column 10WS.

London Underground

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport under franchise agreements, how many passengers the underground train operating companies have agreed to carry on each of their route groups; how many passengers in each group would constitute overcrowding; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: Under the PPP, London Underground will continue to be responsible for running the trains, working the signals and operating the stations. London Underground will also have responsibility for all aspects of safety. The public sector will remain responsible for the safe operation of a unified network.

London Underground

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what arrangements are being planned for compensation of Central Line passengers; who will qualify; how much money he estimates is involved; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how London Underground has informed Central Line passengers of their entitlement to claim refund of fares for the period of the line's closure; when such information was first displayed; and where it is displayed; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The administration of customer refunds under London Underground's Customer Charter is an operational matter for London Underground. However, I understand from London Underground that they have actively contacted the season ticket holders they have been able to identify that have been directly affected by the closure, that they have written to all stakeholders (including MPs) and have put up posters across their network advising how those entitled to claim can go about it. London Underground have also included a comprehensive section on their website (www.thetube.com) and have used other media to spread this message. London Underground's Customer Service Centre has recruited extra staff in order to deal with the large volume of calls they have been receiving.

London Underground

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 4 February 2003, Official Report, column 140W, on London Underground, what the information provided to him by London Underground was relating to (a) the standard of maintenance and safety of the London Underground track and (b) the standard of the rolling stock used; when he expects to receive the reports of the inquiries of (i) the Health and Safety Executive and (ii) London Underground; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The interim report of London Underground's investigation into the derailment at Chancery Lane, published on 21 February, confirmed that the derailment was caused by a motor falling from the train, and that the ongoing investigation will examine the relevance or otherwise of the maintenance of the rolling stock and the underlying causes leading to the failure of the traction motor mountings. London Underground expects to complete most parts of the investigation by the end of March but cannot yet say with confidence when the technical investigation will be complete.
	The independent Health and Safety Executive is conducting its own investigation into the causes of the derailment. HSE will take as long as it needs to complete its investigations.

London Underground

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the insurance policy relevant to the recent accident at Chancery Lane on the Central Line; what it covers; how much he estimates the claim by London Underground will amount to; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: London Underground inform me that the loss adjuster appointed to investigate their property damage claim has indicated that the insured loss (for reinstatement or replacement of assets damaged in the incident) will not exceed £3 million. Of this, some £2 million is self-insured by London Underground and the remaining £1 million will be covered by their own Guernsey based insurance company (London Transport Insurance Guernsey). No claim will be made against external insurers.
	London Underground does not insure either for loss of revenue or for increased costs of working.

Ministerial Travel

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many times since 2001 he has taken flights on departmental duties in the UK; how many of these were (a) charter flights, (b) first or club class and (c) by helicopter; and who accompanied him on each trip.

David Jamieson: The Department was formed on 29 May 2002. Since its formation, the Secretary of State has taken three flights on departmental duties in the UK: none was on (a) a charter flight; one was (b) club class, travelling with two officials from my Department; and two were on (c) helicopters—once to fly over the route of the M6 toll road, the other on a helicopter operated by the Marine and Coastguard Agency for which the Secretary of State is responsible.
	All travel is undertaken fully in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

Concessionary Fares

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on rail concessions for the elderly.

David Jamieson: The national Senior Railcard is available to people aged 60 years and over. This costs £18 per year and offers one-third off most rail fares. The schemes is run by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), and all train operating companies are required to participate. Also, train operators are required by the SRA to participate in any local authority's concessionary travel scheme providing that there is no net loss to the train operator or to its budget. In London, the Freedom Pass also allows free rail travel for the elderly on the heavy rail network in the Greater London area. This scheme is funded by the local authorities and train operating companies are required to participate.

Rail Research UK

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on Rail Research UK.

David Jamieson: Rail Research UK has been established by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council as a interdisciplinary centre for rail systems research. The £7 million centre involves twelve research groups from seven UK universities.
	It aims to broaden the scope of rail research, to promote innovation, to strengthen the science base and to focus longer term research to help and achieve a safer and more reliable railway while reducing the impact on the environment. Rail Research UK was officially launched on 25 February 2003 and becomes operational from April 2003.

Railways

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidelines his Department gives to rail companies regarding the issuing of reduced price tickets.

David Jamieson: About 44 per cent. fares are regulated. It is for train operators to decide other fares levels taking account of competition and market demand.

Road Gritting

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the gritting of back roads in Lancashire during the winter.

David Jamieson: There is currently no statutory duty obliging highway authorities in England to grit roads in order to prevent ice from forming. We shall, however, introduce such a duty at a suitable legislative opportunity.
	In the absence of a statutory duty, we do, nevertheless, expect local highway authorities to grit their roads in accordance with the Code of Practice for highway maintenance "Delivering Best Value in Highway Maintenance", which was published in July 2001 by the Institution of Highways and Transportation. The Code recommends that a hierarchy of roads be established for winter maintenance treatment, in regular consultation with the local community. Back roads would not normally feature highly in these hierarchies.

Rail Services

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from rail user groups regarding the proposed reduction in train services on commuter routes in the South East.

David Jamieson: None.

Rail Services

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how his Department is encouraging a reduction in travel times on trains between the North West and London;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on travel restrictions on rail services from the North West to London.

David Jamieson: The Strategic Rail Authority has produced a practical draft strategy for the West Coast Main Line which delivers a balanced package of improvements for both passengers and freight operators, including substantial reductions in journey times by 2004 and 2006. The strategy proposes greater use of temporary closures of some sections of line to allow the upgrade to be completed more quickly and efficiently.

Trust Ports

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which trust ports are classified as public corporations.

David Jamieson: In discussion with the Office of National Statistics, we have identified 21 trust ports in England and Wales that might fall within the classification as public corporations at the present time. These are:
	Bridlington
	Caernarfon
	Chichester
	Dover
	Falmouth
	Flamborough (North Sea Landing)
	Harwich
	Hope Cove
	Langstone
	Littlehampton
	Milford Haven
	Newlyn
	Orford
	Poole
	Port Isaac
	Port of London
	Port of Tyne
	Sandwich
	Sandersfoot
	Shoreham
	Teignmouth

Trust Ports

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the financial reporting arrangements are for trust ports now classified as public corporations.

David Jamieson: holding answer 4 March 2003
	As we are still working to assess what the impact of this classification might be, there have been no changes to the financial reporting arrangements at this time. All non-fishery trust ports are already required to submit their annual accounts to the Secretary
	of State under the Harbours Act 1964.

Trust Ports

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 16 December 2002, Official Report, column 644W, on trust ports, what progress has been made on discussions with the Office for National Statistics; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: holding answer 4 March 2003
	We have now identified with the Office of National Statistics which trust ports might fall within the classification as public corporations, and my officials are currently working to identify the financial and resource implications of this classification for those ports and the Department.

Trust Ports

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport why there is no reference to the trust ports classified as public corporations in the Resource Accounts 2001–02 of the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: holding answer 4 March 2003
	At the time of preparation of the Department's 2001–02 Resource Accounts we were still discussing the proposed classification with ONS, including trying to identify which ports would fall within that classification. Therefore we were unable to include any reference to the trust ports in those accounts.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Departmental Policies (Northampton, South)

Tony Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Northampton, South constituency, the effects on Northampton of her Department's policies and actions since June 2001.

Alun Michael: Information and statistics on the effect of the Department's policies are not normally held on a parliamentary constituency basis. However, the latest information on regional progress in the national headline indicators of sustainable development were published by the Department in the second edition of the Regional quality of life report on 21 June 2002. This provides updated regional figures and analysis for 13 of the 15 headline indicators for each of the English Government Office Regions. The Government's third annual report on sustainable development in the UK—Achieving a better quality of life—was published by Defra on 24 February 2003. Both publications are available on the Government's sustainable development website: www.sustainable-development.gov.uk. A wide range of information about the Department's policies and work is also included in the Defra Publication Scheme which was introduced in November 2002 and is available on the Defra website at www.defra.gov.uk. The above mentioned reports have been placed in the Library of the House.
	Data on river water quality at local authority level and air quality from local monitoring sites are available from the Defra and Environment Agency websites, and specifically at: LA-level river quality data on EPSIM website: http//www2.defra.gov.uk/db/rq/index.htm; EA "What's in your backyard "—includes rivers but not air quality: http//216.31.193.171/asp/1 introduction.asp and the Air Quality Archive at www.airquality.co.uk/archive/index.php.

Sustainable Communities Plan

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what involvement her Department had in the development of the Sustainable Communities Plan and its impact on the consumption of natural resources.

Alun Michael: Defra was consulted during the development of the Sustainable Communities Plan. Officials are now involved in discussions on how to take the proposals in the plan forward.

DEFENCE

Gulf (Medical Deployment)

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many medical staff, broken down by specialty, will be deployed to the Gulf in the event of a conflict.

Lewis Moonie: If military action is undertaken by the coalition, just over 2,000 United Kingdom medical personnel are planned to be deployed to the Gulf region as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Registered medical practitioners 800 
			 Medics 300 
			 Nurses 800 
			 Technicians 150

Amphetamines (US Military)

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make representations to the USA Secretary of Defence about the use of amphetamines by US military personnel in joint military operations with British armed forces.

Geoff Hoon: holding answer 10 February 2003
	This is a matter for the US authorities.

Anglo-French Agreements

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place a copy of agreements and declarations made with the French Government at the recent Le Touquet summit in the Library.

Geoff Hoon: The United Kingdom and France agreed a joint declaration on defence at the Le Touquet Summit on 4 February. I have placed a copy of the declaration in the Library of the House.
	Two Letters of Intent were also agreed at the Summit. These were a general agreement on navy-to-navy co-operation and an agreement on exploring possibilities for closer co-ordination of aircraft carrier operations, in particular harmonising activity cycles and training. Both documents contain information received in confidence from the French Government. I am therefore withholding these documents under Exemption Ic (Defence, Security and International Relations) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Battle Tanks

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what types of main battle tanks are held by the UK armed forces; and of these how many are being used for (a) static displays and (b) target practice.

Adam Ingram: The Main Battle Tank in-service with the United Kingdom armed forces is the Challenger 2, of which there are 386. None of these are used either as static displays or for target practice.
	The Ministry of Defence still holds 161 Challenger 1 and two Chieftain Main Battle Tanks. These are no longer in-service, but are not used as static displays or for target practice.
	There may well be examples of old, retired Main Battle Tanks used for static display purposes or for target practice but such information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces (Bullying and Harassment)

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) incidents and (b) offences of (i) bullying and (ii) harassment in the Armed Forces were recorded in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The requirement for separate identification and recording of allegations of bullying and harassment was introduced in 1997. Figures for the last five years are as follows:
	
		
			 Financial year Naval Service RAF Calendar year Army 
		
		
			 Bullying 
			 1997–98 14 10 1998 117 
			 1998–99 11 9 1999 71 
			 1999–2000 19 27 2000 78 
			 2000–01 16 38 2001 59 
			 2001–02 17 25 2002 36 
			  
			 Harassment 
			 1997–98 10 24 1998 26 
			 1998–99 25 20 1999 33 
			 1999–2000 16 13 2000 31 
			 2000–01 16 14 2001 26 
			 2001–02 3 13 2002 23 
		
	
	There is no offence of bullying as such. It is not possible therefore to determine if bullying played a part in service disciplinary proceedings without examining each case separately.
	The services' policy is that no form of harassment or intimidation will be tolerated; all allegations are investigated, and appropriate action taken. Although the numbers of complaints of bullying and harassment are small, the Armed Forces see no room for complacency and aim to confront unacceptable behaviour at every opportunity.

Cyprus

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what effect the handover of land under the offer made by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the revised 3rd draft of the Kofi Annan plan for a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus is expected to have on the operation of the British sovereign base areas in Cyprus; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what land is to be handed over under the offer made by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the revised 3rd draft of the Kofi Annan plan for a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus; what assets and facilities are situated there; what that land is used for; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: In order to help secure a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem, the Government decided to offer accede parts of the United Kingdom's Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) which are no longer essential for military purposes. The offer consists of 45 square miles, just under half of the total area of the SBAs.
	The areas in question are mainly agricultural and residential and do not contain military infrastructure. There will be no adverse impact on the ability of British Forces Cyprus to carry out its tasks. We will also continue to perform the same tasks of civil administration in the areas remaining within the SBAs. Our offer was made within the context of UN negotiations to bring about a settlement and is conditional on the settlement being adopted and ratified by all parties. If either side rejects the UN proposals, or the proposals are rejected in a referendum by either side, the offer will become null and void.

Archives

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people were employed in the departmental file stores in each year since 1997; how many have been transferred to the private sector; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The Ministry of Defence has 13 main archive facilities. By far, the largest is the central Records Repository that is located at Hayes in West London. The repository houses the bulk of the MOD's archived material but there are other, smaller, MOD record stores in locations around Great Britain. The following table shows these locations with staff numbers for the years 1997 to 2003 with explanatory notes. Only staff who work 'hands on' in a file store are included. The figures reflect established numbers ie they do not take into account temporary staff vacancies at any time, and they are based on permanent full-time equivalent staff. All posts are civil service unless stated in the notes. The total number of staff that were/are employed in departmental file stores in each year are shown in the last row of the table. To date 42 civil service members ofstaff have transferred to the private sector over the period.
	
		
			 Site 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003(to date) 
		
		
			 Central Repository, Hayes(7) 60 62 62 70 65 66 69 
			 MOD, London 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 
			 RN personnel records, Portsmouth 4 3 3 3 3 3 4 
			 RN personnel records, Gosport(8) 8 9 7 4.5 4 5 6 
			 RM personnel records, Gosport 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
			 Army personnel records, London 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
			 Army personnel records, Glasgow(9) 36.5 74 66 67 64 35 33 
			 RAF personnel records, Innsworth, near Gloucester 13.5 13.5 17 16 14 13.5 13 
			 Home Guard records, Droitwich Spa 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
			 RAF historical records, Bentley Priory 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
			 MOD civilian personnel records, Llangenech 9 9 9 9 7 7 7 
			 War Pensions records, Preston(10) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Armed Forces medical records, Shoeburyness 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 
			 Total 148 187. 5 181 186. 5 174 146. 5 149 
		
	
	(7) None of the posts have transferred to the private sector yet but the MOD repository at Hayes has been considered for contractorisation in recent years as part of the public private partnership (PPP) initiative. This PPP project is a collaborative pan-government venture, led by the MOD and involving 13 other government organisations. The project has recently been granted approval to appoint a preferred bidder with a view to a contract possibly being in place during the summer of 2003. Some of the civil servants currently employed at the site may transfer to the incoming provider when the contract takes effect. Their terms and conditions will be protected in line with the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) regulations.
	(8) On 1 January 1998 Electronic Data Systems (EDS) took over responsibility and eight members of staff transferred across from the civil service.
	(9) On 1 October 2001 EDS took over responsibility and 34 members of staff transferred across from the civil service. Prior to EDS taking over responsibility, the file store also included mail operations for a large part of the MOD Glasgow organisation. It is not possible to accurately separate mail operations staff from file store staff. However, it is reasonable to assume that file store staff would have numbered around 35 in the years 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001.
	(10) MOD war pension records are held by the War Pensions Agency at Preston, however, these are stored in a Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) facility that is staffed entirely by DWP civil servants. Therefore it is not included in this MOD answer.

Depleted Uranium

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what stocks of depleted uranium weapons are held in the theatre of conflict around Iraq; and under what conditions they would be used.

Geoff Hoon: holding answer 3 March 2003
	We have a duty to provide our troops with the best available equipment with which to protect themselves and to succeed in conflict. Depleted Uranium (DU) tank ammunition is judged to be the most effective weapon against armour. United Kingdom forces currently deploying to the Gulf have DU munitions available as part of their armoury for potential operation.
	I am withholding the information requested on stocks of DU weapons in accordance with Exemption 1 (Defence, security and international relations) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

HMS Montrose

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the HMS Montrose refit will be complete; how much it will cost; whether it is on budget; what the target date is for completion; when the ship will be ready for service; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: HMS Montrose's refit at Rosyth is planned for completion in February 2004 and following associated sea trials, she is expected to be ready for operational deployment later that month. The final refit cost will be agreed once all work is completed, but is expected to be just under £23 million. This exceeds the original budget as it now reflects possible changes in labour rates and takes into account additional work identified after the budget had been set.

Joint Strike Fighter

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason the requirement for externally mounted Brimstone and ASRAAM missiles for the future Joint Strike Fighter has been removed; and what missiles will be fitted to the future Joint Strike Fighter as alternatives to the requirement for externally-mounted Brimstone and ASRAAM.

Adam Ingram: While the design of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), to be known in United Kingdom service as the Future Joint Combat Aircraft (FJCA), provides for the external and internal carriage of ASRAAM and Brimstone, the external carriage of weapons would adversely impact on the aircraft's radar signature. Our weapons strategy for JSF is still evolving, but internal carriage of weapons is required in the high threat environments in which we expect FJCA to operate. On current plans, therefore, FJCA will carry both ASRAAM and Brimstone internally. It is not currently considered cost effective for FJCA to carry these weapons externally as well.

Meteor Programme

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the written Ministerial statement of 8th January, Official Report, columns 158–96W, on Meteor, when month 1 of the programme will be.

Adam Ingram: Month 1 of the Meteor contract was January 2003.

NBC Suits

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what different sizes of NBC suit are available (a) to British forces, and (b) to British forces in the Gulf; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The NBC suit, issued to all British forces regardless of service or location, is available in five standard sizes: extra-small, small, medium, large and extra-large. Additionally there is a 'Special Measure' facility that allows the procurement of made-to-measure suits for extreme sizes.

Nuclear Weapons

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps the Government is taking to fulfil its obligations under the Non Proliferation Treaty (a) to limit the spread of nuclear weapons and (b) to move actively towards the elimination of UK nuclear weapons.

Geoff Hoon: The United Kingdom has an excellent record in fulfilling its NPT obligations both on non-proliferation and on nuclear disarmament.
	In order to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons the Government has taken the following measures to create regional nuclear weapon free zones and help stop non nuclear weapon states from acquiring the ability to produce and test nuclear weapons:
	Ratified the relevant protocols to the Treaty of Raratonga (South Pacific Nuclear Weapon Free Zone) and signed and ratified the relevant protocols to the Treaty of Pelindaba (African Nuclear Weapon Free Zone) as well as to the Antarctic Treaty and the Treaty of Tlatelolco (Latin American and Caribbean Nuclear Weapon Free Zone);
	Supported Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones in Central Asia, South East Asia, and the Middle East, and is in negotiations with the relevant states for the first two of these;
	Continued to press for negotiations to begin at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva of a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty;
	Ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and promoted its early entry into force.
	To gain implementation of further non-proliferation measures aimed at preventing the diversion of civil nuclear material to military nuclear programmes the UK has:
	Supported universal application of Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements;
	Urged all States that have not yet done so to conclude and bring into force Additional Protocols to strengthen the safeguards system.
	The UK is an active member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the Zangger Committee, which work to control the export and transfer of nuclear and dual use items.
	To help reduce the chances of nuclear materials falling into unauthorised hands, and to terrorists, the UK is supporting amendments to improve the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials. The UK has also made significant voluntary contributions to the IAEA's Nuclear Security Fund, established after September 11. We have pledged a total of 750,000 over three years.
	To help address the nuclear proliferation risk posed by the nuclear legacy left by the Former Soviet Union the UK committed in July 2002 up to $750 million over 10 years towards the G8 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction. This includes a programme to help dispose of surplus Russian weapons grade plutonium so that it cannot be used in weapons. In the three year period ending March 2004 the UK will spend up to 84 million for the development of other programmes to deal with nuclear security and safety risks in the Former Soviet Union.
	The UK continues actively to support efforts to resolve the unanswered questions about Iraq's nuclear programmes. We have also deplored North Korea's announced intention to withdraw from the NPT and supported IAEA resolutions aimed at achieving North Korea's compliance with its safeguards obligations. The Government has strengthened its ability to take action against anyone in the UK or UK citizens abroad seeking to develop, obtain or use nuclear weapons and created new offences for those seeking to do so.
	To actively move towards the elimination of UK nuclear weapons the UK has:
	Withdrawn and dismantled the RAFs freefall nuclear bomb so that Trident is now our only nuclear weapons system;
	Reduced our operationally available stockpile to fewer than 200 warheads, which is a reduction of more than 70 per cent. in the potential explosive power of our nuclear forces since the end of the Cold War;
	Dismantled the UK's last Chevaline warhead in April 2002;
	Reduced the readiness of our nuclear forces. Only a single Trident submarine is now on deterrent patrol, carrying 48 warheads. The submarine on patrol is normally on several days5 "notice to fire" and its missiles are de-targeted;
	Placed fissile material no longer required for defence purposes under international safeguards and all enrichment and reprocessing facilities in the UK are now liable to international inspection;
	Been more transparent about our nuclear and fissile material stockpiles and begun a national historical accounting study for fissile material produced;
	Published an initial summary report on the verification of the reduction and elimination of nuclear weapons. The Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston is undertaking work on this issue.

Future Carriers (Press Briefings)

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a transcript of the press briefings held by the Minister for Defence Procurement and the Chief of Defence Procurement following his statement on the Future Carriers.

Adam Ingram: Transcripts of press conferences are usually required for internal use only, and are not placed in the Library of the House. However, recognising the public interest in such events, we have decided that in future, transcripts of press conferences will be made available in the news section of the Ministry of Defence Internet site at: www.news.mod.uk. I refer the hon. Member to the website where a transcript of this particular press conference has been posted.

RAF Continuous Attitude Survey

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many RAF personnel in the latest analysed Royal Air Force continuous attitude survey said they did not take all their annual leave; what percentage of those responding to this question this represents; what percentage cited service commitments or a combination of service commitments and personal reasons for not taking full leave entitlement; when the survey was completed; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The latest analysed survey was issued to 2,000 RAF personnel on 1 February 2002, and completed by them during February to April 2002. It was published in September 2002.
	The extent to which Service personnel made use of their annual leave entitlement, and the reasons for not doing so, if applicable were assessed by two specific questions, the responses to which are set out in the following tables;
	It is not possible to separate the 'don't know' from the 'not applicable' responses.
	
		Table 1—How much of your annual leave entitlement did you use in your last leave year?
		
			  Airmen Officers Total 
		
		
			  
			 All of it
			 Number 200 26 226 
			 Percentage 21.0 11.9 19.3 
			 
			  Did not take 1–5 working days 
			 Number 192 33 225 
			 Percentage 20.1 15.1 19.2 
			  Did not take 6–10 working days 
			 Number 196 43 239 
			 Percentage 20.5 19.7 20.4 
			 
			  Did not take 11–15 working days 
			 Number 275 70 345 
			 Percentage 28.8 32.1 29.4 
			 
			  Did not take 16 or more working days 
			 Number 91 46 137 
			 Percentage 9.5 21.1 11.7 
			 
			 Total
			 Number 954 218 1,172 
			 Percentage 100 100 100 
		
	
	
		Table 2—If you were unable to take your full leave entitlement, what was the reason?
		
			  Airmen Officers Total 
		
		
			  
			  
			 Personal
			 Number 98 12 110 
			 Percentage 13.6 6.3 12.1 
			 
			 Service commitments
			 Number 334 92 426 
			 Percentage 46.5 48.2 46.9 
			 
			  Combination personal reasons/Service commitments 
			 Number 286 87 373 
			 Percentage 39.8 45.5 41.0 
			 
			 Total
			 Number 718 191 909 
			 Percentage 100 100 100

RAF Continuous Attitude Survey

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many RAF personnel in the latest analysed Royal Air Force continuous attitude survey indicated they were (a) very satisfied, (b) satisfied, (c) neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, (d) dissatisfied, (e) very dissatisfied and (f) do not know regarding (i) the direction and strategy of the RAF, (ii) the future of the RAF, (iii) the impact of change on the RAF, (iv) the effects of civilianisation and contractorisation on the RAF, (v) the quality of own line management, (vi) the quality of line management in their working group, (vii) the quality of line management in the RAF, (viii) the quality of leadership in the RAF, (ix) the RAF's compliance with employment legislation and (x) the effect of a service lifestyle on their family life; what percentage of those responding to this question each option represents; when the survey was completed; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The latest analysed survey was issued to 2000 RAF personnel on 1 February 2002, and completed by them during February to April 2002. It was published in September 2002.
	The survey assessed the level of individual's satisfaction of the direction and strategy of the RAF, the future of the RAF, the impact of change on the RAF, the effects of civilianisation and contractorisation on the RAF, the quality of own line management, the quality of line management in their working group, the quality of line management in the RAF, the quality of leadership in the RAF, the RAF's compliance with employment legislation and the effect of a service lifestyle on their family life. This was achieved by 10 specific questions, the responses to each of which questions are set out in the following tables.
	It is not possible to separate the 'Do not know' from the 'not applicable' responses.
	
		Table 1: Please indicate how satisfied or dissatisfied you are with the direction and strategy of the RAF
		
			  Airmen Officers Total 
		
		
			 Very satisfied 
			 Number 14 — 14 
			 Percentage 1.5 — 1.2 
			 Satisfied 
			 Number 210 54 264 
			 Percentage 22.2 24.7 22.6 
			  Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied 
			 Number 416 92 508 
			 Percentage 43.9 42.0 43.6 
			 Dissatisfied 
			 Number 220 58 278 
			 Percentage 23.2 26.5 23.8 
			  Very dissatisfied 
			 Number 67 12 79 
			 Percentage 7.1 5.5 6.8 
			  Do not know/not applicable 
			 Number 20 3 23 
			 Percentage 2.1 1.4 2.0 
			 Total 
			 Number 947 219 1,166 
			 Percentage 100 100 100 
		
	
	
		Table 2: Please indicate how satisfied or dissatisfied you are with the future of the RAF
		
			  Airmen Officers Total 
		
		
			 Very satisfied 
			 Number 8 — 8 
			 Percentage 0.8 — 0.7 
			 Satisfied 
			 Number 191 45 236 
			 Percentage 20.2 20.5 20.3 
			  Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied 
			 Number 345 93 438 
			 Percentage 36.5 42.5 37.6 
			 Dissatisfied 
			 Number 315 70 385 
			 Percentage 33.3 32.0 33.0 
			  Very dissatisfied 
			 Number 76 10 86 
			 Percentage 8.0 4.6 7.4 
			  Do not know/not applicable 
			 Number 11 1 12 
			 Percentage 1.2 0.5 1.0 
			 Total 
			 Number 946 219 1,165 
			 Percentage 100 100 100 
		
	
	
		Table 3: Please indicate how satisfied or dissatisfied you are with the impact of change on the RAF
		
			  Airmen Officers Total 
		
		
			 Very satisfied 
			 Number 3 — 3 
			 Percentage 0.3 — 0.3 
			 Satisfied 
			 Number 129 25 154 
			 Percentage 13.7 11.5 13.3 
			  Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied 
			 Number 337 70 407 
			 Percentage 35.7 32.1 35.0 
			 Dissatisfied 
			 Number 354 104 458 
			 Percentage 37.5 47.7 39.4 
			  Very dissatisfied 
			 Number 105 18 123 
			 Percentage 11.1 8.3 10.6 
			  Do not know/not applicable 
			 Number 16 1 17 
			 Percentage 1.7 0.5 1.5 
			 Total 
			 Number 944 218 1,162 
			 Percentage 100 100 100 
		
	
	
		Table 4: Please indicate how satisfied or dissatisfied you are with the effects of civilianisation and contractorisation on the RAF
		
			  Airmen Officers Total 
		
		
			 Very satisfied 
			 Number 1 1 2 
			 Percentage 0.1 0.5 0.2 
			 Satisfied 
			 Number 42 8 50 
			 Percentage 4.4 3.7 4.3 
			  Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied 
			 Number 152 37 189 
			 Percentage 16.1 16.9 16.2 
			 Dissatisfied 
			 Number 373 103 476 
			 Percentage 39.4 47.0 40.9 
			  Very dissatisfied 
			 Number 371 70 441 
			 Percentage 39.2 32.0 37.9 
			  Do not know/not applicable 
			 Number 7 — 7 
			 Percentage 0.7 — 0.6 
			 Total 
			 Number 946 219 1,165 
			 Percentage 100 100 100 
		
	
	
		Table 5: Please indicate how satisfied or dissatisfied you are with the quality of your own line management
		
			  Airmen Officers Total 
			 Very satisfied 
		
		
			 Number 78 14 92 
			 Percentage 8.2 6.4 7.9 
			 Satisfied 
			 Number 464 115 579 
			 Percentage 49.0 52.5 49.7 
			  Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied 
			 Number 230 60 290 
			 Percentage 24.3 27.4 24.9 
			 Dissatisfied 
			 Number 125 23 148 
			 Percentage 13.2 10.5 12.7 
			  Very dissatisfied 
			 Number 46 5 51 
			 Percentage 4.9 2.3 4.4 
			  Do not know/not applicable 
			 Number 4 2 6 
			 Percentage 0.4 0.9 0.5 
			 Total 
			 Number 947 219 1,166 
			 Percentage 100 100 100 
		
	
	
		Table 6: Please indicate how satisfied or dissatisfied you are with the quality of line management in your working group
		
			  Airmen Officers Total 
		
		
			 Very satisfied 
			 Number 73 11 84 
			 Percentage 7.7 5.0 7.2 
			 Satisfied 
			 Number 443 115 558 
			 Percentage 46.8 52.5 47.9 
			  Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied 
			 Number 269 63 332 
			 Percentage 28.4 28.8 28.5 
			 Dissatisfied 
			 Number 109 20 129 
			 Percentage 11.5 9.1 11.1 
			 Very dissatisfied 
			 Number 42 4 46 
			 Percentage 4.4 1.8 3.9 
			  Do not know/not applicable 
			 Number 10 6 16 
			 Percentage 1.1 2.7 1.4 
			 Total 
			 Number 946 219 1,165 
			 Percentage 100 100 100 
		
	
	
		Table 7: Please indicate how satisfied or dissatisfied you are with the quality of line management in the RAF
		
			  Airmen Officers Total 
		
		
			 Very satisfied 
			 Number 13 1 14 
			 Percentage 1.4 0.5 1.2 
			 Satisfied 
			 Number 283 60 343 
			 Percentage 29.9 27.4 29.5 
			  Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied 
			 Number 421 112 533 
			 Percentage 44.6 51.1 45.8 
			 Dissatisfied 
			 Number 172 39 211 
			 Percentage 18.2 17.8 18.1 
			  Very dissatisfied 
			 Number 41 3 44 
			 Percentage 4.3 1.4 3.8 
			  Do not know/not applicable 
			 Number 15 4 19 
			 Percentage 1.6 1.8 1.6 
			 Total 
			 Number 945 219 1,164 
			 Percentage 100 100 100 
		
	
	
		Table 8: Please indicate how satisfied or dissatisfied you are with the quality of leadership in the RAF
		
			  Airmen Officers Total 
		
		
			 Very satisfied 
			 Number 20 2 22 
			 Percentage 2.1 0.9 1.9 
			 Satisfied 
			 Number 265 59 324 
			 Percentage 28.0 27.1 27.8 
			  Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied 
			 Number 364 77 441 
			 Percentage 38.4 35.3 37.9 
			 Dissatisfied 
			 Number 230 64 294 
			 Percentage 24.3 29.4 25.2 
			  Very dissatisfied 
			 Number 64 15 79 
			 Percentage 6.8 6.9 6.8 
			  Do not know/not applicable 
			 Number 4 1 5 
			 Percentage 0.4 0.5 0.4 
			 Total 
			 Number 947 218 1,165 
			 Percentage 100 100 100 
		
	
	
		Table 9: Please indicate how satisfied or dissatisfied you are with the RAF's compliance with employment legislation
		
			  Airmen Officers Total 
		
		
			 Very satisfied 
			 Number 29 4 33 
			 Percentage 3.1 1.8 2.8 
			 Satisfied 
			 Number 312 62 374 
			 Percentage 33.0 28.3 32.1 
			  Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied 
			 Number 403 98 501 
			 Percentage 42.6 44.7 43.0 
			 Dissatisfied 
			 Number 95 26 121 
			 Percentage 10.0 11.9 10.4 
			 Very dissatisfied 
			 Number 55 11 66 
			 Percentage 5.8 5.0 5.7 
			  Do not know/not applicable 
			 Number 52 18 70 
			 Percentage 5.5 8.2 6.0 
			 Total 
			 Number 946 219 1,165 
			 Percentage 100 100 100 
		
	
	
		Table 10: Please indicate how satisfied or dissatisfied you are with the effect of service lifestyle on your family life
		
			  Airmen Officers Total 
		
		
			 Very satisfied 
			 Number 15 1 16 
			 Percentage 1.6 0.5 1.4 
			 Satisfied 
			 Number 237 47 284 
			 Percentage 25.0 21.5 24.4 
			  Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied 
			 Number 319 81 400 
			 Percentage 33.7 37.0 34.3 
			 Dissatisfied 
			 Number 214 62 276 
			 Percentage 22.6 28.3 23.7 
			  Very dissatisfied 
			 Number 119 21 140 
			 Percentage 12.6 9.6 12.0 
			  Do not know/not applicable 
			 Number 43 7 50 
			 Percentage 4.5 3.2 4.3 
			 Total 
			 Number 947 219 1,166 
			 Percentage 100 100 100

RAF Continuous Attitude Survey

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many RAF personnel in the latest analysed Royal Air Force continuous attitude survey indicated they rated the level of morale of (a) themselves, (b) their flight/section/working group, (c) group and (d) the RAF as a whole as (i) very high, (ii) high, (iii) neither high nor low, (iv) low, (v) very low and (vi) did not know; what percentage of those responding to this question each option represents; when the survey was completed; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The latest analysed survey was issued to 2000 RAF personnel on 1 February 2002, and completed by them during February to April 2002. It was published in September 2002.
	In this survey, the level of morale of individuals, along with an individual's perception of the level of morale within their flights or working groups and the RAF as a whole were investigated by three specific questions. The responses to each of these questions are set out in the following tables.
	
		Table 1: How would you rate the level of morale for yourself?
		
			  Airmen Officers Total 
		
		
			 Very high 
			 Number 70 17 87 
			 Percentage 7.4 7.8 7.4 
			 High 
			 Number 326 85 411 
			 Percentage 34.3 38.8 35.2 
			  Neither high nor low 
			 Number 293 81 374 
			 Percentage 30.8 37.0 32.0 
			 Low 
			 Number 191 28 219 
			 Percentage 20.1 12.8 18.7 
			 Very low 
			 Number 70 8 78 
			 Percentage 7.4 3.7 6.7 
			 Do not know 
			 Number — — — 
			 Percentage — — — 
			 Total 
			 Number 950 219 1,169 
			 Percentage 100 100 100 
		
	
	
		Table 2: How would you rate the level of morale for your flight/section/working group?
		
			  Airmen Officers Total 
		
		
			 Very high 
			 Number 21 2 23 
			 Percentage 2.2 0.9 2.0 
			 High 
			 Number 177 57 234 
			 Percentage 18.6 26.4 20.1 
			  Neither high nor low 
			 Number 338 115 453 
			 Percentage 35.6 53.2 38.9 
			 Low 
			 Number 295 34 329 
			 Percentage 31.1 15.7 28.2 
			 Very low 
			 Number 116 7 123 
			 Percentage 12.2 3.2 10.5 
			 Do not know 
			 Number 3 1 4 
			 Percentage 0.3 0.5 0.3 
			 Total 
			 Number 950 216 1,166 
			 Percentage 100 100 100 
		
	
	
		Table 3: How would you rate the level of morale for the RAF as a whole?
		
			  Airmen Officers Total 
		
		
			 Very high 
			 Number 2 — 2 
			 Percentage 0.2 — 0.2 
			 High 
			 Number 44 6 50 
			 Percentage 4.6 2.7 4.3 
			  Neither high nor low 
			 Number 281 80 361 
			 Percentage 29.6 36.5 30.9 
			 Low 
			 Number 467 111 578 
			 Percentage 49.2 50.7 49.4 
			 Very low 
			 Number 114 12 126 
			 Percentage 12.0 5.5 10.8 
			 Do not know 
			 Number 42 10 52 
			 Percentage 4.4 4.6 4.4 
			 Total 
			 Number 950 219 1,169 
			 Percentage 100 100 100

RAF Menwith Hill

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with his US counterparts about the role of RAF Menwith Hill in US missile defence; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: I have had no such discussions.

Reserve Forces

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the criteria for the Hardship Fund for Reserve Forces take into consideration the financial needs of dependent (a) married and (b) non-married partners; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: Reservists called-out and accepted into permanent service may apply for financial assistance in the event that their military salary is less than their earnings in civilian life. This assistance is paid in the form of a Reserve Standard Award (RSA). RSA is paid in banded rates that are related to a Reservist's rank and specialism. Reservists are also eligible to apply for a Reserve Hardship Award (RHA) if the RSA alone would cause his-her dependants hardship irrespective of their marital status. There is no ceiling for RHA payments.

Reserve Forces

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures exist to ensure that reservists report for duty when ordered to do so.

Lewis Moonie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 January 2003 Official Report, column 708W, to the hon. Member for Hereford (Mr. Keetch).

Reserve Forces

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many reservists called up in the last three months have failed to report for duty.

Lewis Moonie: As at 21 February only one reservist is believed to have deliberately failed to report for service. This case is being investigated.

Reserve Forces

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what restrictions are placed on the deployment of regular reservists beyond the Balkan theatre.

Lewis Moonie: There are no geographical restrictions on deploying regular reservists.

Reserve Forces

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps are being taken to retain the services of regular reservists who wish to extend their tours of duty beyond their scheduled de-mobilisation.

Lewis Moonie: The provisions of the Reserve Forces Act 1996 allow reservists to extend their service. Subject to the needs of the services and their commanding officer's approval, reservists are generally encouraged to apply to extend their service for set periods at a time (usually six months). However, normally there are theatre specific limits to the period a reservist can serve. This is to ensure that no one serves too long in an operational environment.

Service Personnel (Gulf)

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the daily rations are for British troops while on deployment in the Gulf; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The Naval Forces have sufficient stock embarked to sustain themselves for a number of weeks. This stock is composed of a full range of fresh/ambient/frozen and chilled foodstuffs. If required, re-supply will be effected by transfer of stock from one of the support ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Land Forces deploy with a number of days of Operational Ration Packs (ORP). This can be augmented by the addition of some items of fresh food (e.g. fruit, bread). When appropriate equipment and military Chefs have arrived in support, units are able to transition from a purely ORP diet, to a mixture of ORP and fresh food as the situation dictates.
	The ORP range consists of seven menus and provides sufficient calories and nutritional balance to provide a Service person with sufficient food for one day in the field. An average calorific intake for the complete range is 3,800 calories per ration. Each menu has a breakfast (400 cals), a snack lunch (1,750 cals) and a dinner (1,000 cals) plus sufficient sundry items (650 cals) ie tea, coffee and squash powder to provide variety and minimise fatigue. The ration is designed to be eaten either hot or cold, but ideally is used in conjunction with the hexamine solid fuel cooker, as the food is more appetising if it is heated. The ORP range also provides for ethnic feeding (Halal, Sikh/Hindu) and for vegetarians. The calorific content for these rations is similar to the general purpose range.

Uranium

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what use has been made of munitions containing uranium in live firing training in the UK since 1986.

Lewis Moonie: No munitions containing uranium have been used in live firing training in the United Kingdom since 1986.

US Military Nuclear Programme

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent requests he has received from the United States Government to provide lead test assemblies for the United States military nuclear programme.

Adam Ingram: None.

Vaccine Schedule (Gulf Deployment)

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether multiple vaccinations are being administered to troops deploying to the Gulf.

Lewis Moonie: All Service personnel are routinely offered a range of vaccinations to protect against disease. These include public health vaccinations and vaccinations for those in special occupational risk groups. Vaccinations are also offered to Service personnel deploying to areas with specific health hazards and to protect personnel against the effects of biological weapons.
	In accordance with NHS guidelines, a number of public health vaccinations may be administered at the same time, some in combination. This is not unusual. However, by offering public health vaccinations to Service personnel on recruitment, with boosters at appropriate intervals thereafter, the need to administer several vaccinations or boosters immediately before a deployment can be avoided. Nevertheless, boosters or additional vaccinations may be unavoidable at the time of a deployment or in an emergency. This is the case for anyone travelling overseas at short notice. In such circumstances, full account is taken of any other treatment or medication that an individual might be receiving at the time. This is balanced against the risk of contracting the disease during deployment.

Vaccine Schedule (Gulf Deployment)

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to record the vaccine schedules applied to troops deploying to the Gulf.

Lewis Moonie: It is Ministry of Defence policy that all vaccinations given to Service personnel are recorded in their personal medical records. In addition, staff in medical centres are required to record details of current vaccinations on the Operational Medical Record, Form F Med 965, before issuing it to individuals about to deploy. Any medical events, including vaccinations, occurring while deployed are to be recorded on the F Med 965 by medical personnel and, additionally, on an electronic medical record facility where this is held by deployed ships and units. Individuals are required to return their F Med 965 to their medical centre on return to their home base and information should then be transferred to their personal medical records. Royal Navy personnel serving in larger ships will have their full personal medical records on board, and F Med 965 would be unnecessary unless they deploy on land. Royal Marines personnel should have their full personal medical record with them if deployed in a ship, but would use the F Med 965 when deployed on land.

Work Placements

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many university students his Department and associated agencies has supported or sponsored with a work placement in the last year; what his policy is on work placements; what plans he has to develop such schemes; and what his policy is on paying their university fees.

Lewis Moonie: The separate and differing policies in relation to the Armed forces and our civilian workforce are designed to support university students to benefit recruitment. The Armed forces offer a combination of cadetships and bursaries (349 were awarded in 2002–03) for which a grant is made to the individual and can be used to meet university fees. There are a further 45 officer cadets and young officers for whom fees are paid direct to the university, and 200 studying for first degrees at the Royal Military College of Science. All these arrangements involve a continuing association with the parent Service. For our civilian workforce, details are not held centrally of the total number of work placements involving university students, and our policy remains to support them where this makes sense for recruitment. For example, the Defence Engineering and Science Group currently sponsors some 190 students, all of whom benefited from a work placement this year. Normally, university fees are not paid but the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory is currently supporting 38 students in a similar way to the Armed forces.

X-Bank Radar

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) risk assessments and (b) environmental investigations his Department will undertake into the possible effects upon the local environment of an upgrade at RAF Fylingdales.

Geoff Hoon: While we do not expect any risk or environmental implications to arise from the upgrade, we will continue to assess the position through discussions with the US authorities and site surveys. We will report our conclusions to the local planning authority soon.

Young Service Personnel

Paul Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the armed forces aged under 18 (a) are deployed and (b) are planned to be deployed in the Gulf; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The United Kingdom signed Optional Protocol II to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in September 2000 and on 24 February 2003 an Explanatory Memorandum was laid before the House to enable the Protocol to be ratified. It is accordingly our policy that we will take all feasible measures to ensure that no personnel under the age of 18 play a direct part in hostilities. Our plans for the recent deployment of Armed Forces personnel to the Gulf were drawn up and implemented on that basis. Despite these precautions, regrettably one such individual was deployed; but that has now been remedied. As a result there are no under-18s serving in the Gulf and there are no plans for any under-18s to be deployed there.

WALES

Civil Servants

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many civil servants have been employed by (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies and non-departmental bodies in each year from 1994–95 to 2002–03; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: My Department came into being on 1 July 1999 and has no agencies or NDPBs.
	The Departmental Report 2002 shows there to have been 35 permanent and casual civil servants in 1999–00; 43 in 2000–01; and 41 in 2001–02.

Ministerial Costs

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the cost was to the Welsh Office of ministerial (a) pay, (b) travel, (c) entertainment, (d) conferences, (e) overseas travel and (f) other costs in each year from 1998–99 to 2002–03; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: My Department came into being on 1 July 1999.
	(a) the remuneration of Ministers was £65,000 from July 1999 to March 2000; between £70,000 and £78,000 in 2000–01; between £95,000 and £110,000 in 2001–02.
	(b) and (e) Since 1999 this Government has published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The Government has also published on an annual basis the cost of all Ministers' visits overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House.
	Costs of domestic travel by Ministers are not readily separable from those of the Department as a whole.
	(c) figures are not readily available for 1999/00. Departmental spending on hospitality was £21,000 in 2000/01 and 8,000 in 2001/02
	(d) figures are not readily available for 1999/00. No separate expenditure on conferences is recorded for 2000/01 or 2001/02
	(e) most other Ministerial expenditure cannot readily be separated from general Departmental expenditure. However the cost of Ministerial cars was £113,000 in 2000/01; £154,000 in 2001/02 and has been £107,000 in 2002/03 to date.

Minsterial Meetings

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many times he and the honourable Member for Islwyn have attended meetings of the Council of Ministers in the past nine months.

Peter Hain: Since my appointment as Secretary of State for Wales, neither I nor the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Wales has attended any such meetings.

Renewable Energy

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proposals he has to increase tidal and wave generated electricity in Wales.

Peter Hain: I maintain a close interest in proposals being taken forward or considered by the Department of Trade and Industry, the National Assembly for Wales and Welsh local planning authorities.
	For example, the Department of Trade and Industry recently announced that Tidal Hydraulic Generators Ltd, who operate out of Broad Haven in Pembrokeshire, will receive £1.6m to develop and test a tidal stream prototype which could be deployed in areas of fast tidal flow around the world.
	As the recently published Energy White Paper states "We are determined that wave and tidal technologies should be given the opportunity to play the fullest part they can in the expansion from renewables. This in turn can create another significant opportunity, with word-wide application, for our manufacturing sector".

Smoking in the Workplace

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what policy his Department has adopted on smoking in the workplace.

Peter Hain: My Department occupies two buildings. In London smoking is not permitted anywhere in the building during normal working hours. In Cardiff, where we are tenants of the National Assembly of Wales, smoking is permitted only in one designated smoking room.

University Students

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his Answer of 10th February, Official Report, column 564, on students (National Assembly), if he will establish whether the press were in possession of information on the question of further devolution of powers with regard to tuition fees and maintenance grants to the National Assembly for Wales in advance of contacting his press office.

Peter Hain: No.

Welsh Language

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much money the Government gave to support the Welsh language in (a) education and (b) cultural organisations in the last year for which figures are available.

Peter Hain: These are matters for the National Assembly for Wales.

TREASURY

3G Licences

Phil Willis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to re-pay the capital sum raised through the sale of 3G licences to the successful bidder.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 28 February 2003
	I have been asked to reply.
	None.

Age Diversity

Evan Harris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when his Department completed its diagnostic review for compliance with the Government's Code of Practice for Age Diversity in Employment; and what changes his Department plans to make following the review.

Ruth Kelly: The provisions of the Code of Practice on Age Diversity in Employment are embedded within the Treasury's equal opportunities policies in accordance with the Performance and Innovation Unit's "Winning the Generation Game" report. Policies are in place to ensure that there are no unfair or unlawful barriers to employment or advancement in the Treasury. These policies are kept under constant review.

Company Tax Relief

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to remove tax relief on corrupt payments and bribes made by companies to secure (a) export orders and (b) domestic orders; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: Section 577A of the Taxes Act 1988 provides that, when computing taxable profits, a business is not allowed relief for expenditure incurred on a payment if the making of that payment constitutes a criminal offence in the UK, or would do so if the payment were made in the UK.

Correspondence

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letter of 3 December 2002 from the hon. Member for Manchester, Central on insurance, ref 3/12838/02.

Ruth Kelly: I wrote to the hon. Member on 10 January explaining that I hoped to be in a position to provide a full response soon and noting the reason for delay.

Statistics

Nigel Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the (a) death rates and (b) age adjusted death rates for (i) England, (ii) Scotland, (iii) Wales and (iv) Northern Ireland for each year since 1997.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Nigel Evans, dated 5 March 2003
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question concerning (a) death rates and (b) age adjusted death rates for (i) England, (ii) Scotland, (iii) Wales and (iv) Northern Ireland for each year since 1997. I am replying in his absence. (100734)
	The most recent available mortality data are for the calendar year 2001. The figures requested for the years 1997 to 2001 are given in the attached table.
	
		Mortality rates per 100,000 population by sex and by country of the United Kingdom, for the calendar years 1997 to 2001(11)
		
			   1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 
		
		
			  
			  
			 (a) Overall death rate  
			 (i) England Persons 1,096.8 1,067.9 1,063.9 1,022.4 1,008.7 
			  Males 1,048.5 1,047.2 1,038.6 1,002.2 985.5 
			  Females 1,089.9 1,087.4 1,087.8 1,041.5 1,030.7 
			 (ii) Scotland Persons 1,170.4 1,165.3 1,188.5 1,141.6 1,133.1 
			  Males 1,158.9 1,153.4 1,174.0 1,131.2 1,122.7 
			  Females 1,180.9 1,176.3 1,201.9 1,151.2 1,142.7 
			 (iii) Wales Persons 1,198.8 1,174.7 1,210.8 1,149.0 1,136.4 
			  Males 1,186.3 1,151.8 1,191.2 1,127.5 1,110.2 
			  Females 1,210.5 1,196.2 1,229.2 1,169.3 1,161.0 
			 (iv) Northern Ireland Persons 895.8 893.6 932.9 885.5 859.1 
			  Males 888.3 894.4 911.9 868.8 849.9 
			  Females 903.0 892.9 952.8 901.5 867.9 
			   
			 (b) Age standardised death rate(12)  
			 (i) England Persons 727.9 721.5 714.9 682.5 666.5 
			  Males 904.6 894.5 880.5 839.9 815.7 
			  Females 597.0 592.0 589.6 563.0 552.0 
			 (ii) Scotland Persons 853.1 843.0 849.1 807.7 792.5 
			  Males 1,070.8 1,053.3 1,060.5 1,004.4 982.8 
			  Females 694.8 687.4 694.0 660.8 648.1 
			 (iii) Wales Persons 768.2 747.8 764.4 718.2 702.6 
			  Males 960.0 922.8 945.4 881.8 855.9 
			  Females 627.8 617.2 626.6 591.8 583.9 
			 (iv) Northern Ireland Persons 755.0 746.0 769.9 727.9 697.6 
			  Males 947.8 944.7 954.8 897.2 866.8 
			  Females 613.6 600.2 634.8 603.8 572.0 
		
	
	(11) Figures are for deaths occurring in each calendar year from 1997 to 2001 in England and Wales and registrations of death per calendar year for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
	(12) The rates have been standardised using the European standard population.

Statistics

Tony Clarke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the predicted population is for (a) Northamptonshire, (b) borough of Northampton, (c) Northampton South constituency and (d) other parliamentary constituencies in (i) 2004 and (ii) 2005.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Tony Clarke, dated 5 March 2003
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question on what the predicted population is for (a) Northamptonshire and (b) Borough of Northampton, (c) Northampton South constituency and (d) other Parliamentary constituencies in (i) 2004 and (ii) 2005. I am replying in his absence. (100800)
	Subnational population projections are produced at local authority level but not for parliamentary constituencies. Table 1 shows the projected population for 2004 and 2005 for the county of Northamptonshire and constituent local authority districts. The figures are drawn from the latest short-term subnational population projections, which are based on the 2000 mid-year population estimates. These are not consistent with the latest population estimates that are based on the 2001 Census. The next set of subnational population projections will be 2002-based and published in 2004.
	For information we include a second table comparing the projected figures for 2001 and the new 2001 Census-based mid-year estimates for 2001. At county level the projected figures for 2001 show only a small difference. However it should be noted that for individual districts the differences are somewhat larger, and hence the projections are less consistent with latest population estimates.
	
		Table 1: Projected population (mid-year ending 30 June) for Northamptonshire and local authorities -- Thousand
		
			  Projected population 
			 Area 2004 2005 
		
		
			 Northamptonshire 641.6 645.3 
			 Northampton 199.4 200.6 
			 South Northamptonshire 83.1 83.8 
			 Corby 51.0 51.0 
			 Daventry 72.5 73.1 
			 East Northamptonshire 79.5 80.2 
			 Kettering 85.5 85.9 
			 Wellingborough 70.6 70.9 
		
	
	Note:
	ONS 2000-based short-term subnational population projections
	
		Table 2: Comparison of 2001 population estimates and 2000-based projections for 2001 (mid-year ending 30 June): local authorities
		
			 Area 2001 Estimates (Thousand) 2001 Projections (Thousand) Differences (Thousand) Percentage difference 
		
		
			 Northamptonshire 630.4 630.0 0.4 0.1 
			 Northampton 194.4 196.3 -1.9 -1.0 
			 South Northamptonshire 79.5 80.6 -1.1 -1.4 
			 Corby 53.2 51.2 1.9 3.6 
			 Daventry 72.1 70.6 1.5 2.1 
			 East Northamptonshire 76.8 77.4 -0.6 -0.8 
			 Kettering 82.0 84.3 -2.3 -2.8 
			 Wellingborough 72.6 69.6 2.9 4.1

ECOFIN

Jimmy Hood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the outcome was of the ECOFIN Council held on 18th February; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if he will make a statement.

Gordon Brown: I attended the ECOFIN meeting on 18 February. ECOFIN held its first discussion on preparation for the Spring Council on 21–22 March. The Commission presented their Spring report, and the Presidency's draft Key Issues Paper was also tabled. I welcomed both contributions, and referred to the UK progress report on economic reform in Europe, published on 17 February. I also set out the UK's priorities for the Spring Council: employment, research and development, competition, state aids and better regulation. ECOFIN also agreed Council conclusions on the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines Implementation Report.
	There was a discussion of the Commission Communication on reinterpreting the Stability and Growth Pact. It was agreed that draft Council Conclusions should be tabled at 7 March ECOFIN and adopted ahead of the Spring Council.
	Council adopted conclusions on voting reforms of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank. This will be tabled again at the 7 March ECOFIN ahead of the Spring Council.
	Under Implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact, the Council adopted Opinions on the Stability and Convergence programmes of the UK, Denmark, Spain, Ireland and Belgium.
	The Council agreed a joint Commission/Council report on eurozone statistics to go forward to the Spring Council. It also agreed conclusions on the fifth progress report on the implementation of information requirements in EMU and a code of best practice on improving the quality of budgetary statistics.
	The Council adopted a Decision to establish the Financial Services Committee, as foreseen by the Conclusions on Financial Supervision agreed at the 3 December ECOFIN.
	Agreement was postponed on energy taxation until the 7 March ECOFIN.
	Political agreement was reached on VAT Administrative Co-operation without discussion.
	The UK's Convergence Programme was adopted on the basis of Qualified Majority (including the UK) in support of the final text.

Employers Liability Insurance

Adrian Flook: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimates are for revenue raised by the 5 per cent. insurance levy on employers' liability insurance with regard to the construction industry (a) since its inception, (b) for the financial year and (c) for the next financial year.

Ruth Kelly: Separate data on the amount of Insurance Premium Tax collected from Employers' Liability Insurance from the construction industry are not available, as IPT receipts are not broken down by source.

EU Money Laundering Directive

Joan Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the proposed time scale is for the development of a third EU Money Laundering Directive.

Ruth Kelly: The second EU Money Laundering Directive 1 adopted in December 2001 calls on the Commission to present a proposal for a further Directive before 15 December 2004.
	1 Directive 2001/97/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 December 2001 amending Council Directive 91/308/EEC on prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering.

Euro

Mark Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will initiate a rolling programme of reassessment, should his Department conclude that Britain does not meet the five economic tests for entry to the euro.

Ruth Kelly: The Government will not speculate on the outcome of the assessment of the five economic tests, which will be completed within two years of the start of this Parliament.

Euro

Mark Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a statement setting out the (a) costs and (b) benefits of entry into the eurozone, if his Department concludes that Britain meets the five economic tests for entry to the euro.

Ruth Kelly: A comprehensive and rigorous assessment of the five economic tests will be completed within two years of the start of this Parliament. Once the assessment is complete, the supporting studies will be published alongside all to be subject to intensive public scrutiny and debate.

Euro

Mark Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has made an assessment of what the effect would be on British business if his Department's assessment of the five economic tests for euro entry is (a) that Britain should enter the euro and (b) that Britain should not enter the euro.

Ruth Kelly: As set out in the Paper for the Treasury Committee on the Treasury's approach to the preliminary and technical work, published on 6 September 2002, a number of supporting studies will be published alongside the assessment of the five economic tests. A supporting study will be published, examining "The impact of EMU on business in different manufacturing and business sectors of the UK economy." Further detail can be found in the 6 September Paper.

Insurance Premium Tax

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to increase the basic rate of insurance premium tax.

Ruth Kelly: holding answer 3 March 2003
	As with all taxes, Insurance Premium Tax is kept under review and any changes would be announced in the annual Budget.

Insurance Premium Tax

David Marshall: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to review the cost to employees of the insurance premium tax; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: As with all taxes, Insurance Premium Tax is kept under review and any changes would be announced in the annual Budget.

Interest Rates

Howard Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the sensitivity of the economy of (a) the UK, (b) other members of the European Union and (c) other G7 nations to interest rate changes.

Ruth Kelly: As set out in the Paper for the Treasury Committee on the Treasury's approach to the preliminary and technical work, published on 6 September 2002, a number of supporting studies will be published alongside the assessment of the five economic tests. A supporting study will be published, "Assessing whether the monetary transmission mechanism differs substantively in the UK compared with the euro area". Further detail can be found in the 6 September Paper.

Network Rail

Howard Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions his Department has had with the National Audit Office on the Auditor General's policy on the approval of the national accounts in relation to the treatment of Network Rail debt; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Boateng: The Treasury has discussions with the National Audit Office on wide range of issues. However, the National Accounts are the responsibility of the Office for National Statistics and not the Comptroller and Auditor General

Network Rail

Howard Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will undertake not to conclude loan contracts for Network Rail until the Comptroller and Auditor General has approved the accounting treatment for new debt in the Government accounts.

Paul Boateng: While departments can, and do, consult the C&AG and his staff on accounting treatments, the ultimate responsibility for determining any accounting treatment rests with the body preparing the financial statements, not the C&AG, provided that the accounting policies selected are the most appropriate for giving a true and fair view and comply with the requirements of the Resource Accounting Manual or other accounting guidance issued by the Treasury.

Publicity and Advertising

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how much the Inland Revenue spent on (a) publicity and (b) advertising in each year from 1990–91 to 2002–03; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how much (a) his Department and (b) each agency and non-departmental public body sponsored by his Department spent on (i) publicity and (ii) advertising in each year from 1995–96 to 2002–03 (estimated); and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: Figures for 1995 to 1996 are not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	For detailed figures from 1997 to 2002 I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) on 7 May 2002, Official Report, column 36W.
	The latest information for 2002–03 is as follows:
	Inland Revenue
	Self Assessment publicity, £7.4 million which includes advertising media spend of £5.78 million
	Work on the communications campaign for the new Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit is continuing and to date has involved a spend of £9.75 million on paid for media.
	Government Actuary's Department
	Expenditure to date (a) £35,000 (b) £18,000
	The Royal Mint
	Advertising 1 £2,395,669
	Publicity 2 £123,155.77
	1 Includes recruitment advertising, and advertising of collector coin and other products produced by the Royal Mint
	2 Services provided by external public relations consultants
	Debt Management Office
	
		£
		
			  2002–03(13) 
		
		
			 Printing 40,000.00 
			 Recruitment advertising 50,000.00 
			 Auction advertising(14) 300,000.00 
			 Total 390,000.00 
		
	
	(13) Estimation to year end
	(14) Auction advertising costs are recovered from the National Loans Fund
	Valuation Office Agency
	£57,185 Estimated
	Office for National Statistics
	Publicity expenditure £140,000.
	No expenditure is expected in respect of advertising.
	The publicity spend covers two phases—the launch of the first Census population statistics in September at a cost of £61,000 and the launch of Census key statistics planned for 13 February at an estimated cost of £79,000.
	HM Customs and Excise
	Tackling Tobacco smuggling campaign year three of three.
	To date £1,000,000 exclusive of VAT.
	Fuel Fraud campaign year one of three
	To date, £230,000 exclusive of VAT.
	National Savings and Investments
	Above the line Advertising £1,775,000 (estimated)
	Press and Public Relations (Publicity) £470,000 (estimated)
	Below-the-line £6,399,000 (estimated)
	Office of Government Commerce
	(i) Expenditure on publicity—Nil.
	(ii) Expenditure on advertising: £3,878 spent in 2001–02 by OGC buying solutions. This figure reflects the spend since the launch of OGC (1 April 2000) to date and OGC buying solutions (1 April 2001) to date.
	These figures relate to external advertising and publicity and exclude communications within the public sector.

Self-assessment

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many individual taxpayers who file self-assessment tax returns have registered for the Inland Revenue service for filing tax returns on the internet in each month since the service became available; how many have used the system to submit returns; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The Registration service for the Internet service for Self Assessment became available on 3 April 2000. Figures of the number of users registered for the service from April 2000 to June 2001 were given the Paymaster General's answer of 19 July 2001, Official Report, column 382W. The Filing service became available on 3 July 2000. The number of registrations and filers in each month since the service became available is as follows:
	
		
			 Month Registrations Cumulative Filers Cumulative total 
		
		
			 April 2000 32,927 32,927 — — 
			 May 2000 14,877 47,814 — — 
			 June 2000 10,677 58,491 — — 
			 July 2000 11,703 70,194 6,765 6,765 
			 August 2000 11,700 81,894 7,546 14,311 
			 September 2000 16,557 98,451 9,628 23,939 
			 October 2000 2,736 101,187 2,101 26,040 
			 November 2000 1,697 102,884 1,063 27,103 
			 December 2000 2,902 105,786 1,573 28,676 
			 January 2001 14,162 119,948 10,305 38,981 
			 February 2001 595 120,543 180 39,161 
			 March 2001 522 121,065 129 39,290 
			 April 2001 13,485 134,550 1,098 40,388 
			 May 2001 5,208 139,758 2,878 43,266 
			 June 2001 4,021 143,779 3,959 47,225 
			 July 2001 2,618 146,397 6,887 54,112 
			 August 2001 13,755 160,152 7,707 61,819 
			 September 2001 3,994 164,146 12,977 74,796 
			 October 2001 226 164,372 8,988 83,784 
			 November 2001 4,775 169,147 1,760 85,544 
			 December 2001 104,282 273,429 1,646 87,190 
			 January 2002 86,849 360,278 23,404 110,594 
			 February 2002 56,950 417,228 4,711 115,305 
			 March 2002 31,550 448,778 222 115,527 
			 April 2002 3,614,720 4,063,498 1,031 116,558 
			 May 2002 32,912 4,096,410 9,897 126,455 
			 June 2002 5,031 4,101,441 1,611 128,066 
			 July 2002 13,113 4,114,554 26,051 154,117 
			 August 2002 15,470 4,130,024 24,829 178,946 
			 September 2002 38,742 4,168,766 81,982 260,928 
			 October 2002 88,834 4,257,600 14,578 275,506 
			 November 2002 40,901 4,298,501 13,454 288,960 
			 December 2002 50,098 4,348,599 23,329 312,289 
			 January 2003 60,957 4,409,556 127,948 440,237

Senior Civil Servants (IT Qualifications)

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what IT qualifications each of the senior civil servants within his Department possesses.

Ruth Kelly: Twenty-five per cent of Treasury senior civil servants have declared they hold qualifications in IT. These range from degree level computer science to in-house training. Senior civil servants are also expected to gain IT skills through a range of internal and external training.

Stamp Duty

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many commercial stamp duty exemptions have been claimed in disadvantaged electoral wards; and what estimate he has made of the value of these exemptions.

John Healey: There have been 758 commercial transactions in disadvantaged electoral wards which have been exempted from stamp duty between the introduction of the relief at the end of November 2001 and the end of January 2003 . The value of the stamp duty relief given amounts to £749,010.
	Relief for all transactions (including commercial) in exempted wards is currently restricted to those where the value of the transaction is £150,000 or below. The Chancellor stated in the pre-Budget report that the Government intended to exempt all commercial property transactions in these wards from stamp duty, irrespective of value.

Tax Credits

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with the National Statistician on the different accounting practices that will be followed for the new tax credits by (a) his Department and (b) the Office of National Statistics.

Dawn Primarolo: There is no difference in the accounting treatment of the Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit between the Office for National Statistics and HM Treasury.

Tax Credits

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in receipt of the working families tax credit receive it via their employer.

Dawn Primarolo: All current awards of Working Families' Tax Credit are now being paid direct by Inland Revenue.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the level of involvement of women is in the administration in Afghanistan.

Mike O'Brien: The Afghan Transitional Administration includes two female Cabinet Ministers and a female State Minister in the President's Office. In addition there are four female Deputy Ministers, five Generals and over a dozen division chiefs in various Ministries. Two of the nine-member Constitutional Drafting Group, five of the 11-member Human Rights Commission and one of the nine-member Judicial Commission are women.

Afghanistan

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what investigations have been undertaken by United Kingdom officials in Afghanistan of the deaths of Taliban prisoners held by the forces of the Northern Alliance.

Mike O'Brien: UK officials have no authority to undertake investigations of this nature. However, British Embassy staff in Kabul are in frequent contact with the ICRC, which monitors closely the situation and welfare of all prisoners in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Afghans are under training to form an Afghan National Army.

Mike O'Brien: Seven battalions of between 300 and 600 men each have so far completed initial training. Five of these are currently engaged in continuation training or preparing for operations. An eighth battalion is half way through its initial training course.

Afghanistan

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans exist for the (a) decommissioning of weapons and (b) demobilisation of men in the private armies of Afghan warlords.

Mike O'Brien: At a conference on Afghanistan held in Tokyo on 22 February, President Karzai said that he intended to announce the start date for a programme of demobilisation, disarmament and reintegration of former combatants on 21 March. The programme involves establishing disarmament centres for the collection of weapons and holding former combatants in transit centres. The former combatants will then either be selected for Afghan National Army training or transferred to a second stage that will provide education, vocational training or work programmes. This will be financed from a UN Trust Fund to which the UK has pledged US$3.5 million.

Afghanistan

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Afghan police officers have been trained as part of the international community's commitment to rebuild Afghanistan.

Mike O'Brien: Approximately 2,500 students, including 60 women, are under training in the recently refurbished police academy in Kabul. A further 60 Afghan police instructors have been trained by Germany, which coordinates international assistance on police reform. Some training has also been carried out in India. The UK ran a two week training course in Kabul in January for five senior Afghan police officers, two of whom are now under training at the International Police College in the UK.

British Antarctic Territory

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make an assessment of the practicability of using the services of Vivendi Environmental to help clean up British Antarctica.

Mike O'Brien: The British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the UK's Antarctic operator, is undertaking a major clean-up of its abandoned bases and waste dumps in British Antarctic Territory.
	The clean-up work being carried out by BAS of British wastes in British Antarctic Territory will be completed by 2005, as required by the permit issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office under the Antarctic Act 1994. It is being undertaken in partnership with a British civil engineering company, Morrison International, and has been very successful. For further information see the BAS web site (www.antarctica.ac.uk/environment).
	The BAS has not been contacted by Vivendi Environmental regarding clean-up in Antarctica.
	Clean up of stations operated by other countries in the British Antarctic Territory is the legal responsibility of those foreign operators. The practicability of Vivendi Environmental removing the wastes of foreign operators would therefore be for those foreign operators to assess.

British Antarctic Territory

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what systems are in place (a) to prevent the depositing of waste and (b) to secure the removal of deposited waste in British Antarctica.

Mike O'Brien: The UK has a comprehensive system of legal and practical measures to ensure that wastes are not deposited in British Antarctic Territory (BAS) and instead are removed for safe disposal outside of the region.
	The Antarctic Act 1994, together with the Antarctic Regulations 1995, regulate all UK activities in Antarctica by way of a permit system administered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. This ensures that all UK expeditions to Antarctica, including the British Antarctic Survey, are legally obliged to remove all wastes, other than biodegradable wastes (e.g. sewage), arising from their activities.
	The BAS is one of the leaders in environmental and waste management in Antarctica. It has effective systems in place on its research stations and vessels to separate, compact and remove all solid and hazardous wastes. The wastes are re-used, recycled or disposed of safely in the Falkland Islands or in the UK. The BAS is currently in the final stages of building a biological sewage treatment plant at its Rothera Research Station.

British Detainees

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the work of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in investigating cases of UK subjects imprisoned overseas.

Bill Rammell: The UK co-sponsored last year's UN Commission on Human Rights resolution on the question of arbitrary detention which encouraged all Governments to implement the recommendations of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concerning those detained for a number of years; and to take appropriate measures to ensure that their legislation, regulations and practices were in conformity with the relevant international standards and the relevant international legal instruments.
	Regarding Working Group rulings on the detention of UK citizens overseas, the UK has taken account of the Working Group's views and, where necessary, taken appropriate steps to remedy the situation of persons arbitrarily deprived of their liberty.

British Detainees

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made on behalf of George Atkinson to the Government of Dubai following the letter from the Jumeirah prison authorities of 19 March 2002 indicating that his sentence had been completed.

Mike O'Brien: We understand that in Dubai, when a prisoner has served three-quarters of a sentence, the prison authorities routinely report this to the judicial authorities. However, any decision to release a prisoner early is at the discretion of the local authorities and is not automatic. In early 2001 the Ruler's Court informed Mr Atkinson's solicitors of Dubai's legal position in relation to Mr Atkinson's sentence, and specifically of the linkage between payment of the fine imposed by the court and time served in prison. Our Embassy have provided information to Mr Atkinson's UK lawyers about local lawyers who can assist with local courts. The British Government does not normally intervene in the judicial processes of other countries.

British Detainees

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Dubai following the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention's opinion 16/2002 confirming their opinion 17/1998 that George Atkinson be released forthwith; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in its opinion 17/1998 found that the detention of George Atkinson in Dubai from 1 March 1997 until 13 December 1999 was arbitrary. A subsequent report by the Working Group, in December 2002 (opinion 16/2002), stated that it was not clear whether George Atkinson's detention since 14 December 1999 was arbitrary. Although we do not normally intervene in the judicial process of other countries, we are in contact with Mr Atkinson's lawyer and will continue to do all we properly can for him.

British Detainees

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made to the Government of Dubai following the treatment George Atkinson received in Jumeirah prison on 30th July 2002.

Mike O'Brien: Last summer there were a number of riots at Dubai's Jumeirah prison. George Atkinson and a number of other British detainees were injured. Of course our primary concern is the welfare of British detainees and, following the riots, our consular staff immediately visited George Atkinson and the other affected British detainees. Our Consul-General met the Dubai Chief of Police on 20 August, to express our serious concerns at the incidents in the prison, and the treatment of British prisoners during those events. Our Consul-General also raised the incidents with the Director of the Ruler's Court, and sought assurances that there would be no recurrence of the problems at the prison.

British Detainees

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list British subjects imprisoned in the Middle East and the length of time that each has been imprisoned.

Mike O'Brien: At 27 February 2003 the known British prison population in the following countries stood at
	Israel: 2
	Lebanon:1
	Syria: none
	Jordan: none
	Iraq: none
	Egypt: 4
	Saudi Arabia: 10
	Kuwait: 1
	Bahrain: 1
	Qatar: none
	United Arab Emirates: 20
	Oman: 2
	Yemen: 4
	Iran: none
	I am withholding the names of the prisoners and the length of their sentences under exemption 12 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government information (privacy of an individual).

Falkland Islands

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made with the feasibility study into the clearance of mines from the Falkland Islands.

Mike O'Brien: The UK-led feasibility study into demining the Falkland Islands is to be carried out under the supervision of a Joint Working Party. At its first meeting, held in Buenos Aires in December 2001, progress was made on the overall aims of the study and technical and management issues. The UK has appointed a National Mine Action Authority to allow for future work in the Falklands, in line with International Mine Action Standards. We remain committed to the feasibility study and to moving ahead as soon as Argentine funds become available.

Sudan

Hilton Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of whether rebel groups have seized the town of Gulu in Darfur; and what steps his Department is taking in conjunction with other Departments to investigate the conflict in Darfur, western Sudan.

Bill Rammell: Historically there have been clashes between armed groups in Darfur over access to land and water; there are also long-standing claims of insufficient development in the region. Recently these issues have come to a head. The frequency of clashes has increased and Government forces have also become involved. The town of Gulu was taken by armed fighters three weeks ago. The town has since returned to the control of the Government.
	The British Embassy in Khartoum continues to discuss the situation in Darfur with a wide range of Government and National Congress party officials in addition to Darfur MPs and other local representatives. Her Majesty's Ambassador to Khartoum has requested permission to visit Darfur and will do so as soon as possible.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received in respect of those countries that assisted Iraq in the development of the Al-Samoud-2 missile.

Mike O'Brien: There are reports that Iraq has received assistance with the development of the Al-Samoud-2 missile from outside Iraq.
	It is not Government practice to comment in detail on intelligence matters.

Iraq

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department has had discussions with the US and European partners concerning women's involvement at all levels in the administration planned after military action in Iraq.

Mike O'Brien: No decision has been taken to launch military action against Iraq. Our policy remains to ensure Iraq complies with its obligations under relevant Security Council resolutions, including by giving up its weapons of mass destruction. As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary said in his 7 January statement, Official Report, column 4–5WS on our Iraq policy objectives, we would like Iraq to become a stable, united and law-abiding state, within its present borders, co-operating with the international community, no longer posing a threat to its neighbours or to international security, abiding by all its international obligations and providing effective and representative government for its own people.

North Korea

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the weapons of mass destruction which North Korea has admitted possessing.

Mike O'Brien: North Korea has not admitted to possession of any weapons of mass destruction. However, since being confronted by the US over its covert uranium enrichment programme in October 2002, a Foreign Ministry spokesman claimed on 25 October that North Korea was "entitled to possess" nuclear weapons as well as weapons "more powerful" than nuclear weapons.
	North Korean possession of nuclear weapons would be a clear violation of its international obligations as a State Party to the NPT. North Korea is also a State Party to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, but has neither signed nor ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention.

EU Rapid Reaction Force

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of the Franco-British joint paper presented to the EU foreign ministers calling for the proposed EU Rapid Reaction Force to be deployed in Bosnia from early 2004.

Mike O'Brien: I have placed in the Library a copy of the Franco-British joint paper presented to the EU foreign ministers calling for an EU-led military operation to be deployed in Bosnia from Spring 2004.

Somaliland

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is towards Somaliland.

Bill Rammell: It is UK policy to promote peace and stability throughout Somalia. We provide humanitarian and modest development assistance in areas where security allows access. We welcome the progress which has been made in establishing a stable and democratic administration in Somaliland. We are considering how we might increase our development assistance there, and an assessment team will visit in the near future. We also support the talks between Somali leaders taking place in Kenya as part of the IGAD National Reconciliation Process. We hope these will make possible an eventual political settlement between Somaliland and the rest of Somalia.

Sudan

Hilton Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what lessons have been learned from the performance of the Civilian Protection Monitoring Team in order to ensure that the new Verification and Monitoring Team can respond (a) rapidly and (b) effectively to reports of fighting within southern Sudan.

Bill Rammell: Representatives of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, the Government of Sudan, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army, observers at the Sudan peace talks and the Civilian Protection Monitoring Team (CPMT) have been meeting in Nairobi to discuss the establishment of the verification mechanism envisaged in the Addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding on Cessation of Hostilities, signed on 4 February. The verification monitoring team will initially be based on an expanded CPMT because the latter has assets on the ground. A fuller mission will be established as soon as is practically possible. We expect the designers of the mission to draw lessons from the experiences of the CPMT. However the CPMT and the new mission have essentially different mandates and terms of reference. The UK stands ready to provide financial and practical support to the new mission.

Sudan

Hilton Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps have been taken to ensure that the Verification and Monitoring Team (a) publish and (b) disseminate reports of their investigations into attacks on civilians in Sudan without delay.

Bill Rammell: The Verification and Monitoring Team will report to the committee established by the Addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding on the Cessation of Hostilities, signed on 4 February. The committee will arrange publication and dissemination of reports. Attacks on civilians will continue to be monitored by the Civilian Protection Monitoring Team which reports to the US Government.

Sudan

Hilton Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government has taken to monitor (a) abductions, (b) rape and (c) recruitment of children during the recent fighting around Sudan's oil fields.

Bill Rammell: Abduction of women and children is a serious and distressing issue to which we pay particular attention. We continue to work closely with the Committee for the Eradication of Abduction of Women and Children (CEAWC) which is working with UNICEF and Save the Children (UK), and with the Rift Valley Institute. The Government of Sudan has made clear publicly that it is committed to the success of the Committee and has said that it sees abduction as totally unacceptable and contrary to both Islam and to Christianity.

PRIVY COUNCIL

Privy Council Office

David Laws: To ask the President of the Council for what reasons there was a change in staffing of the Privy Council Office between 1998–99 and 2002–03; and if he will make a statement.

Robin Cook: The following Privy Council Office staffing figures are taken from the civil service staff in post statistics published by the Cabinet Office (http://civil-service.gov.uk/statistics/publications/htm) and the additional information requested is provided in the following table:
	
		Privy Council Office (PCO) staffing
		
			 Date ofpublishedfigures Number of full-time equivalent permanent staff(15) Commentary 
		
		
			 April 1999 30 — 
			 April 2000 30 Lord Privy Seal's Office transferred to Cabinet Office. Parliamentary Secretary and staff appointed. 
			 April 2001 40(16) Additional staff appointed to support Ministers; manage new accommodation; strengthen corporate services so as to manage central initiatives; and administer Judicial Committee's devolution and human rights jurisdictions. 
			 April 2002 40 — 
		
	
	(15) These figures exclude casual and temporary staff.
	(16) This figures includes staff increases authorised in the previous financial year, which were initially covered by casual and temporary staff.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Abandoned Vehicles

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to ensure that police authorities deal with the disposal of abandoned vehicles in a cost-effective manner;
	(2)  what guidance he gives to police authorities to assist in the co-ordination of efforts to (a) identify and (b) dispose of abandoned vehicles.

John Denham: The statutory responsibility for removal and disposal of abandoned vehicles lies with local authorities rather than police authorities.
	Police constables, in addition to local authority employees, can remove vehicles that have been abandoned without authority and any vehicle, whether or not abandoned, that has broken down or been left in such a position that it causes danger or obstruction or breaches parking restrictions. The majority of abandoned vehicles are unlicensed, and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has separate powers to remove unlicensed vehicles. We are working with the interested parties to ensure the most effective use locally of the different powers that are available.
	In April 2002 we brought in important new measures to improve dealing with abandoned vehicles. These enable local authorities to remove and dispose of abandoned vehicles in a shorter timescale, act on behalf of DVLA to remove unlicensed vehicles and have easier and quicker access to the DVLA database to seek to identify the owners of abandoned vehicles, so that action can be taken against them. More recently, we have made it possible for Community Support Officers and accredited community safety officers to have the powers of constables for dealing with abandoned vehicles.
	In the longer term we aim to make it less likely that vehicles will be abandoned. Continuous registration will from 1 January next year provide that the person registered as keeper on the DVLA database remains liable for a vehicle until DVLA has been properly notified of a change of keeper.

Animal Experiments

Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the timetable for implementing the recommendations of the House of Lords report on the use of animals in scientific procedures;
	(2)  if he will make it his policy to repeal the confidentiality clauses of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: The Government's response to the report of the House of Lords Select Committee on animals in scientific procedures was published on 20 January 2003 (column 5729). Copies have been placed in the Library.
	The Government welcome the Select Committee's report. We note in particular, and endorse, both its finding that animal experiments are currently necessary to develop human and veterinary medicines and to protect humans and the environment, and that such experiments should continue to be stringently regulated to minimise the suffering of the animals involved.
	In our response, we announced plans to publish summaries of programmes of work authorised under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, subject to safeguards for personal and confidential information. We also acknowledged the significant concern within the scientific community about the possible repeal of section 24 of the 1986 Act, the "confidentiality clause" and we announced our intention to consult further with scientific stakeholders before reaching final decisions on its future.
	We will pursue these issues and the other matters arising from our response to the Select Committee's report over the coming months. Discussions regarding section 24 are in hand and a number of actions have already been completed.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many anti-social behaviour orders have been served by each local authority in the UK.

John Denham: Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) were introduced from 1 April 1999. Information held centrally up to 31 May 2000 is for the number of ASBOs issued within England and Wales by police force area only.
	From 1 June 2000 official statistics on the number of ASBOs issued within England and Wales are based on quarterly returns from Magistrates' Courts Committees (MCCs). From copies of the orders we have been able to identify local authority areas involved. The number of notifications received by the Home Office of ASBOs issued within each MCC area, up to 30 September 2002 (latest available), can be found in descending order in the following table.
	Tables showing data on the number issued by local authority have been placed in the Library.
	We are aware that the numbers of ASBOs made within England and Wales have been consistently under reported in returns made by magistrates courts and are considering how reporting can be improved.
	Information relating to Northern Ireland is a matter for The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Matters related to Scotland are for the Scottish Executive.
	
		Table A: The number of anti-social behaviour orders issued within England and Wales, as reported to the Home Office, from 1 April 1999 to 30 September 2002, by MCC and police force area.
		
			 MCC/Police force area ASBOs issued 
		
		
			 West Midlands 96 
			 West Mercia 65 
			 Greater Manchester 55 
			 GLMCA/Metropolitan Police(17) 46 
			 Avon and Somerset 32 
			 Northumbria 27 
			 Lancashire 25 
			 Norfolk 25 
			 West Yorkshire 22 
			 Staffordshire 21 
			 Merseyside 19 
			 Durham 18 
			 Kent 18 
			 Nottinghamshire 17 
			 Humberside 15 
			 South Yorkshire 15 
			 Sussex 15 
			 Derbyshire 14 
			 Devon and Cornwall 12 
			 Hampshire 12 
			 Cleveland 11 
			 North Yorkshire 11 
			 Thames Valley 11 
			 Cumbria 10 
			 Cambridgeshire 9 
			 Cheshire 9 
			 Hertfordshire 9 
			 Northamptonshire 8 
			 Warwickshire 8 
			 Bedfordshire 7 
			 Suffolk 7 
			 Surrey 6 
			 Leicestershire 5 
			 Dorset 4 
			 Gloucestershire 4 
			 Lincolnshire 3 
			 Essex 2 
			 Wiltshire 1 
			 England 694 
			   
			 South Wales 7 
			 Gwent 4 
			 North Wales 1 
			 Dyfed Powys — 
			 Wales 12 
			   
			 England and Wales 706 
		
	
	(17) Including City of London

Appeals

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many representations have been received in each year since 1988 regarding right to appeal cases to the Court of Appeal where the sentencing is seen to be unduly lenient; and if he will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: I am answering this question on behalf of the Home Secretary and I will write to the hon. Member with my answer shortly.

Asylum Seekers

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) material assistance and (b) protection is given to asylum seekers returned to their home countries.

Beverley Hughes: For asylum seekers who choose to return on a voluntary basis we provide an independent counselling service and an in-kind grant of £500, which provides support to promote re-integration. For Afghans returning voluntarily, there is also a cash payment programme providing £600 for individuals and up to £2,500 for families, and access to a training and employment project in Afghanistan. Protection is not provided to asylum seekers returning voluntarily because they have withdrawn their claim.
	Those subject to enforced removal do not receive the benefits of voluntary return. The exception is Afghans, subject to enforced removal, who may have access to a training and employment project in Afghanistan. Protection is not considered necessary as their claim has been found to be unsubstantiated.

Asylum Seekers

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children under 18 years of age have applied for asylum in each year since 1997.

Beverley Hughes: 13,025 applications for asylum in the United Kingdom were lodged by asylum seekers under 18 in 2002. 8,705 applications were lodged in 2001. In addition, it is estimated that approximately 6,400 asylum seekers aged under 18 applied for asylum in 2000, 3,600 in 1999, 4,600 in 1998 and 1,600 in 1997. These figures exclude dependants, and may overstate since some applicants aged 18 or over may claim to be younger.
	Information on asylum applications by age and gender is published annually in the statistical bulletin 'Asylum Statistics United Kingdom', a copy of which is available in the Library and from the RDS website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Asylum Seekers

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedures are used to (a) identify child asylum seekers and (b) assist them in gaining contact with their parents.

Beverley Hughes: The Immigration Rules (HC 395, as amended) define a child as a person who is under 18 years of age or who, in the absence of documentary evidence establishing age, appears to be under that age. In the absence of documentary evidence it falls to officers of the Home Office Immigration and Nationality Directorate to make the judgment as to whether an applicant is under or over 18, based on the appearance of the applicant. Social Services Departments make use of services such as the Red Cross to trace family where this is feasible and in accordance with the child's needs and wishes.

Asylum Seekers

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children claimed asylum on arrival in the UK in each of the last five years.

Beverley Hughes: 2,290 applications for asylum in the United Kingdom were lodged at ports by asylum seekers under 18 in 2002. 2,195 applications were lodged in 2001. These figures exclude dependants, and may overstate since some applicants aged 18 or over may claim to be younger. Information for years prior to 2001 is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case records.
	Information on asylum applications by age and gender is published annually in the statistical bulletin 'Asylum Statistics United Kingdom', a copy of which is available in the Library and from the RDS website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Asylum Seekers

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers were placed in each local authority area in England under the dispersal policy in each year since 1998.

Beverley Hughes: The information is not available in the form requested. Statistics are only available on the dispersal of asylum seekers who are supported by the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) since it commenced operation in April 2000.
	Numbers of asylum seekers placed in NASS accommodation under the dispersal policy are available on a quarterly and annual basis. These statistics are available on the Home Office's Immigration and Asylum Statistics website: http://www.homeoffice. gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	Figures for asylum seekers in receipt of NASS accommodation support in each Local Authority area as at the end of December 2002 are given in the table. Information in respect of the number of persons dispersed to an area during a given year is not available.
	
		
			 Region Local Authority Dispersed Disbenefited Total 
		
		
			 England Darlington 35 — 35 
			 North East Gateshead 565 — 580 
			 — — — 15 — 
			 — Hartlepool 50 — 50 
			 — Middlesbrough 770 — 770 
			 — Newcastle upon Tyne 1,775 — 1,775 
			 — — — 5 — 
			 — North Tyneside 500 — 500 
			 — Redcar and Cleveland 355 — 355 
			 — South Tyneside 170 — 170 
			 — Stockton-on-Tees 740 — 740 
			 — Sunderland 1,030 — 1,030 
			 — Total 5,995 — 6,010 
			 — — — 15 — 
			 North West Burrow-in-Furness — — 5 
			 — — — 5 — 
			 — Blackburn with Darwen 670 — 670 
			 — Bolton 1,160 — 1,160 
			 — Burnley 55 — 55 
			 — Bury 625 — 625 
			 — Crewe and Nantwich 10 — 10 
			 — Ellesmere Port and — — 5 
			 — Neston — 5 — 
			 — Hyndburn 15 — 15 
			 — Liverpool 1,925 — 1,925 
			 — Manchester 1,705 — 1,725 
			 — — — 20 — 
			 — Oldham 660 — 660 
			 — — — 5 — 
			 — Pendle 75 — 75 
			 — Rochdale 440 — 440 
			 — Salford 1,235 — 1,240 
			 — — — 10 — 
			 — Sefton 125 — 125 
			 — St. Helens — — 5 
			 — — 5 — — 
			 — Stockport 265 — 270 
			 — — — 5 — 
			 — Tameside 315 — 315 
			 — Trafford 130 — 135 
			 — Wigan 860 — 860 
			 — Total 10,275 — 10,325 
			 — — — 45 — 
			  
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Barnsley 495 — 495 
			  Bradford 1,640 — 1,650 
			 — — — 10 — 
			 — Calderdale 380 — 380 
			 — Doncaster 995 — 1,015 
			 — — — 20 — 
			 — Kingston upon Hull, City of 1,010 — 1,010 
			 — Kirklees 935 — 935 
			 — Leeds 1,685 — 1,690 
			 — — — 5 — 
			 — North East Lincolnshire 170 — 170 
			 — Rotherham 695 — 695 
			 — Sheffield 1,645 — 1,645 
			 — — — 5 — 
			 — Wakefield 530 - 530 
			 — York — — 5 
			 — — — 5 — 
			 — Total 10,185 — 10,225 
			 — — — 40 — 
			  
			 East Midlands Charnwood 10 — 10 
			 — Corby — — 5 
			 — — — 5 — 
			 — Derby 1,550 — 1,550 
			 — Gedling 20 — 20 
			 — Leicester 1,260 — 1,260 
			 — Lincoln 115 — 115 
			 — Northampton — — 5 
			 — — — 5 — 
			 — Nottingham 1,570 — 1,570 
			 — Rushclife — — 5 
			 — — — 5 — 
			 — Total 4,525 — 4,540 
			 — — — 10 — 
			  
			 West Midlands Birmingham 3,530 — 3,555 
			 — — — 25 — 
			 — Coventry 1,595 — 1,595 
			 — Dudley 695 — 695 
			 — Herefordshire, County of — — 5 
			 — — — 5 — 
			 — Newcastle-under-Lyme 70 — 70 
			 — Sandwell 830 — 835 
			 — — — 5 — 
			 — Solihull 110 — 110 
			 — Stoke-on-Trent 1,255 - 1,260 
			 — — — 5 — 
			 — Walsall 555 — 555 
			 — Wolverhampton 1,625 — 1,625 
			 — — — 5 — 
			 — Wychavon — — 5 
			 — — — 5 — 
			 — Total 10,260 — 10,305 
			 — — — 45 — 
			  
			 East of England Bedford — * * 
			 — — — 15 — 
			 — Cambridge — — — 
			 — Epping Forest 10 — 10 
			 — Ipswich 75 — 75 
			 — Luton — — 5 
			 — Peterborough 405 — 425 
			 — — — 20 — 
			 — Total 490 — 535 
			 — — — 40 — 
			  
			 Greater London Barking and Dagenham 5 40 45 
			 — Barnet 15 75 90 
			 — Bexley — 10 10 
			 — Brent — 50 50 
			 — Bromley — 20 20 
			 — Camden 10 20 35 
			 — Croydon — 50 50 
			 — Ealing — 90 90 
			 — Enfield 165 200 365 
			 — Greenwich — 45 45 
			 — Hackney 50 90 135 
			 — Hammersmith and Fulham — 95 95 
			 — Haringey 260 260 520 
			 — Harrow — 65 65 
			 — Havering — * * 
			 — Hillingdon — 20 20 
			 — Hounslow — 35 35 
			 — Islington 30 115 145 
			 — Kensington and Chelsea — 15 15 
			 — Kingston upon Thames 5 25 25 
			 — Lambeth 50 50 100 
			 — Lewisham — 80 80 
			 — Merton — 20 20 
			 — Newham 60 120 180 
			 — Redbridge — 25 25 
			 — Richmond upon Thames — 15 15 
			 — Southwark — 55 55 
			 — Tower Hamlets — 20 20 
			 — Waltham Forest 55 120 175 
			 — Wandsworth — 35 35 
			 — Westminster — 40 40 
			 — Total 710 1,900 2,605 
			  
			 South East Ashford — 10 10 
			 — Brighton and Hove 60 15 75 
			 — Hastings 225 — 225 
			 — Medway — 10 10 
			 — Oxford — 15 15 
			 — Portsmouth 340 — 340 
			 — Shepway — 5 5 
			 — Slough — 15 15 
			 — Southampton 455 5 460 
			 — Thanet — 15 15 
			 — Wycombe — 5 5 
			 — Total 1,080 100 1,180 
			 — 
			 South West Bristol, City of 410 — 410 
			 — Exeter 65 — 65 
			 — Gloucester — 10 10 
			 — Plymouth 375 — 375 
			 — South Gloucestershire 55 — 55 
			 — Swindon 5 5 10 
			 — Total 915 10 925 
			 (England) Total 44,440 2,210 46,650 
			  
			 Wales Cardiff 1,000 — 1,000 
			 — Neath Port Talbot * — * 
			 — Newport 110 5 115 
			 — Swansea 410 — 410 
			 — Wrexham 55 — 55 
			 — Total 1,580 5 1,585 
			  
			 Scotland Glasgow City 5,665 — 5,665 
			 — Total 5,665 — 5,665 
			  
			 Northern Ireland Belfast 135 — 135 
			 — Newry and Mourne * — * 
			 — Newtownabbey 30 — 30 
			 — Carrickfergus 5 — 5 
			 — Total 170 — 170 
			 (United Kingdom) Total 51,850 2,220 54,070 
		
	
	(18) Disbenefited cases are cases which were previously supported under the main UK benefits system and have been moved onto NASS support. Some of these cases have remained in the original social services accommodation.
	Note:
	All figures have been rounded to the nearest 5, figures between 1 and 2 are represented by a *. Only those Local Authorities where NASS dispersed or disbenefitted cases are resident are shown.

Asylum Seekers

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average length of time is between the arrival in the UK and the date of asylum application of those asylum seekers who have been refused support by NASS under sections 55 or 57 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 and for whom figures are available; how many applied for asylum within (a) 24 hours, (b) one week and (c) one month of their arrival in the UK; and what his estimate is of the number of asylum seekers who have been refused support by NASS under sections 55 or 57 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (i) in total and (ii) on each day since 8 January.

Beverley Hughes: Information on the date of arrival of applicants who apply in-country is not available because, for example, some may have entered clandestinely. Nor is information collated centrally on the time between the claimed date of arrival in the UK and the date on which an asylum claim was made. Information on the operation of sections 55 and 57 of the Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 will be published in due course.

Domestic Violence

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the incidence of domestic violence was against (a) married women, (b) women with long-term partners and (c) other women in each of the last three years.

John Denham: holding answer 13 February 2003
	Domestic violence is not separately identified in recorded crime statistics collected by the Home Office.
	The British Crime Survey (BCS) provides information on the number of incidents of domestic violence in England and Wales. It estimated that there were 514,000 incidents against women based on interviews in 2001–02. The 2000 BCS which measured crime in 1999 estimated that there were 560,000 incidents against women in 1999. (No comparable analysis was conducted for 2000). This information is not available for women in different types of relationship.
	The BCS figures are derived from a sample and so are subject to sampling error. Moreover, the BCS is carried out by face-to-face interviews and some respondents may be unwilling to reveal experience of domestic violence to interviewers. The 1996 BCS included a self-completion component on domestic violence to encourage disclosure. Results were published in Home Office Research Study No. 191—copies are available in the Library. This more confidential approach to measurement revealed that the proportion of women that were victims in the last year of domestic violence was over three times higher than in the main BCS. This study looked at the marital status of women who had been victims of domestic violence in the last year. Women who described themselves as currently separated from a partner with whom they had been living were by far the most likely to have been a victim of domestic violence in the past year: 22 per cent. had been assaulted at least once. At lowest risk were married women (2 per cent.) and those co-habiting (3 per cent.). Risks are higher for single women—both the never married (8 per cent.) and the now divorced (6 per cent.). (Home Office Research Study 191 page 29).
	The Government are committed to tackling domestic violence at all levels. It is a serious and abhorrent crime that accounts for one quarter of all violent crime and claims the lives of two women a week. Nearly half of all female murder victims are killed by a partner or an ex-partner. The Government will do everything they can to tackle it and ensure that victims receive the highest levels of support and protection.
	A consultation paper setting out proposals to prevent domestic violence will be published by spring 2003. This consultation will build on the initial consultation on domestic violence in the White Paper "Justice for All" and the ongoing work of the inter-departmental Ministerial Group on Domestic Violence which brings together eight Ministers to progress five priority areas for action.
	Increasing safe accommodation choices for women and children;
	Developing early and effective healthcare interventions;
	Improving the interface between the criminal and civil law;
	Ensuring a consistent and appropriate response from the police and Crown Prosecution Service; and
	Promoting Education and Awareness Raising.
	The consultation will aim to generate a comprehensive response from the public, voluntary sectors and others, to ensure the widest possible agreement on what needs to be done to prevent and deal with domestic violence.

Enhanced Thinking Skills Programme

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will assess the effectiveness of the Enhanced Thinking Skills Programme.

Hilary Benn: The effectiveness of the programme is assessed through reports on institutional behaviour, psychometric data, and by the long-term evaluation of reconviction data. The programme also fulfils the strict set of accreditation criteria laid down by the Correctional Services Accreditation Panel and whose role includes an annual assessment of programme delivery.

Hate Crime

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the level of hate crime directed at people with learning disabilities; what plans he has to tackle hate crime directed at people with learning disabilities; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: The Government are committed to tackling all hate crime regardless of what form it takes.
	The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) working with the Government has developed guidance for police forces in dealing with these types of crime. This guidance is entitled "Identifying and Combating Hate Crime" and was last updated in April 2002.
	While there is no specific national requirement for the recording of hate crimes against those with disabilities they are covered by the ACPO Guidelines.
	In November 2002 the Metropolitan police relaunched their Hate Crime publicity campaign to clearly include hate crime targeted at people with disabilities. They have since made it policy for their Community Safety Units, who record incidents of hate crime, to flag up hate crime against people with disabilities. At this stage the definition of 'disability' refers to all forms whether physical or mental.

Prisoners (Hospital Stays)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what types of cases prisoners are taken from HMP Garth and HMP Wymott to (a) Chorley and (b) Royal Preston Hospital; and how many overnight stays by prisoners have taken place at Chorley Hospital over the last 12 months.

Hilary Benn: Information about the specific cases of each prisoner taken from Garth and Wymott prisons to Chorley District hospital and Royal Preston hospital is not available without disproportionate cost, but prisoners are taken to hospital for a variety of surgical, medical and other reasons.
	From the period 26 February 2002 to 26 February 2003, there have been 50 overnight stays at Chorley District hospital by prisoners from Garth. For the same period, there have been 238 overnight stays by prisoners from Wymott.

Prisoners (Hospital Stays)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prison officers have to accompany a prisoner being taken to hospital.

Hilary Benn: The options available to prison managers when considering the levels of staffing for a hospital escort or bedwatch, are outlined in paragraph 37.116 of the Prison Service Security Manual (PSO 1000), a copy of which is deposited in the Library. Generally speaking, two officers will normally escort a single prisoner.
	However, all outside prisoner movements are subject to a thorough risk assessment which will determine not only the appropriate level of staffing required, but also, where necessary, the levels of restraint to be used. The risk assessment will consider amongst other things, the nature of the prisoner's offence, their physical capability to escape (either with or without outside assistance), and the risks that they pose to both hospital staff and the general public. All risk assessments must be regularly reviewed to take into account any changes in the prisoners physical condition, or the general circumstances under which the escort is being conducted.

Prisoners (Hospital Stays)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hours have been spent by prison officers from (a) HMP Garth and (b) HMP Wymott accompanying prisoners during visits to hospital; and what the estimated cost is of transporting prisoners to hospital from (a) HMP Garth and (b) HMP Wymott over the last 12 months.

Hilary Benn: From the period 26 February 2002 to 26 February 2003, Garth prison used 6,773.5 officer hours for prisoner bedwatches and escorts to hospital and Wymott prison used 6,240 officer hours. The estimated cost for accompanying prisoners to outside hospital visits at Garth between 26 February 2002 and 26 February 2003 is £96,037. The estimated cost for this during the same period at Wymott is £107,182.

Human Trafficking

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the United Kingdom's initiatives to combat human trafficking.

Beverley Hughes: We set out a comprehensive approach to tackle trafficking and other forms of organised crime in the White Paper "Secure Borders, Safe Haven" published in 2002. The UK has been at the forefront of international efforts to address the heinous crime of trafficking. We were instrumental in drafting the United Nations Trafficking Protocol and the European Union Framework Decision, which commits the Government to criminalising people trafficking. An offence of trafficking for the purposes of prostitution, carrying a maximum penalty of 14 years, was introduced in the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, and the current Sexual Offences Bill introduces wide-ranging offences covering trafficking for sexual exploitation.
	The introduction of legislation forms part of a comprehensive Government strategy for addressing trafficking of men, women and children as set out in the White Paper. This strategy recognises the need for a multi-faceted response and is a four pronged approach, which also covers enforcement, prevention and protection for victims and international co-operation to combat human trafficking.
	We are working to tackle the criminal networks involved in people trafficking through Reflex, the multi-agency response to organised immigration crime. Its remit is to co-ordinate operations against organised immigration crime and to develop the intelligence and strategic planning to underpin them. In the last six months alone, Reflex has had 27 operations which have reached the arrest phase, 16 organised crime groups have been disrupted and over 60 operations are currently underway. This success has not been limited to UK soil—intelligence leads from Reflex have supported other overseas investigations, helping to dismantle significant organised criminal syndicates in other jurisdictions.
	We also recognise the importance of providing protection for the victims of trafficking in order to encourage them to co-operate with the authorities. We are developing support arrangements for victims in co-operation with the voluntary sector and will be launching a pilot scheme for victims of trafficking shortly. In conjunction with this we are developing a best-practice 'toolkit' to raise awareness of trafficking and enable practitioners to treat victims appropriately.
	We are working with our EU partners and with source and transit countries to build effective international action. We have established a network of liaison officers to build intelligence on routes and methods used by the traffickers.
	The UK is also contributing to the EU STOP II Programme, which provides support to member state organisations responsible for action against the trade in human beings and the sexual exploitation of children. The Department for International Development Office (DFID) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) are funding prevention projects to educate potential victims of the dangers of trafficking, particularly for women and children, in source countries.. DFID also supports a project by the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) aimed at combating the trafficking of children in certain sub-regions.

Probation Service

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vacancies there are for the Inner London Probation Service; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: The information requested is as follows:
	
		
			 London Number of vacancies(19) 
		
		
			 Senior Probation Officers 30 
			 Probation Officers 231 
			 Probation Service Officers 187 
			 All other staff 53 
			 Total 501 
		
	
	(19) Figures given as headcount numbers

Probation Service

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the level of recruitment was, including those starting and leaving, for each Probation Service in England and Wales in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03.

Hilary Benn: The information requested is as follows.
	
		England and Wales Number of starters and leavers(20) 
		
			  2001–02 
			  Starters Leavers 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 120 69 
			 Bedfordshire 20 12 
			 Cambridgeshire 69 28 
			 Cheshire 65 53 
			 Cumbria 25 28 
			 Derbyshire 100 55 
			 Devon and Cornwall 54 56 
			 Dorset 51 25 
			 Durham 69 31 
			 Essex 123 32 
			 Gloucestershire 17 30 
			 Hampshire 96 85 
			 Hertfordshire 51 50 
			 Humberside 101 13 
			 Kent 64 61 
			 Lancashire 125 93 
			 Leicestershire and Rutland 60 30 
			 Lincolnshire 57 21 
			 London 194 654 
			 Greater Manchester 352 303 
			 Merseyside 48 55 
			 Norfolk 49 41 
			 Northamptonshire 39 50 
			 Northumbria 139 86 
			 Nottinghamshire 28 80 
			 Staffordshire 170 144 
			 Suffolk 41 36 
			 Surrey 44 74 
			 Sussex 68 32 
			 Teesside 64 44 
			 Thames Valley 140 115 
			 . Warwickshire 13 18 
			 West Mercia 66 84 
			 West Midlands 175 184 
			 Wiltshire 10 13 
			 North Yorkshire 24 11 
			 South Yorkshire 87 77 
			 West Yorkshire 177 125 
			 Dyfed-Powys 71 24 
			 Gwent 62 20 
			 North Wales 83 24 
			 South Wales 76 47 
			 Total 3,487 3,113 
		
	
	(20) Figures not currently available for 2002–03
	Note:
	The level of starters over leavers across the National Probation Service during the financial year 2001–02 showed a growth rate of 2.13 per cent. against the total number of staff in post.
	Source:
	Figures obtained from RDS Probation Statistics.

Probation Service

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vacancies by grade there were in each Probation Service in England and Wales on 31st December 2002.

Hilary Benn: The information requested is as follows:
	
		England and Wales Numbers of vacancies(21),(22) 
		
			  Senior probation staff Probation officers Probation service officers Trainee probation officers All other staff 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset — 12.0 15.9 12.0 8.6 
			 Bedfordshire — 2.0 1.0 — 0.5 
			 Cambridgeshire — 0.5 1.4 — 4.0 
			 Cheshire 1.0 4.0 1.6 — 2.0 
			 Cumbria — — — — 1.0 
			 Derbyshire 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Devon and Cornwall — 2.5 3.0 — 5.0 
			 Dorset 1.0 3.0 0.5 — 0.5 
			 Durham — — 5.6 — — 
			 Essex — 10.0 3.8 — 5.9 
			 Gloucestershire — 5.0 — 1.0 1.0 
			 Hampshire — 3.3 13.0 2.0 6.3 
			 Hertfordshire — 4.0 1.0 — 6.0 
			 Humberside — 4.0 2.0 — 2.0 
			 Kent — 17.3 42.3 — 14.9 
			 Lancashire — 8.5 4.5 2.0 7.0 
			 Leicestershire and Rutland — 4.0 — — — 
			 Lincolnshire — 4.5 8.5 — 0.5 
			 London 30.0 231.0 187.0 — 53.0 
			 Greater Manchester 4.0 15.0 35.0 — 15.0 
			 Merseyside — — 9.0 — 30.0 
			 Norfolk — — 1.0 5.0 — 
			 Northamptonshire 3.0 6.0 5.0 — 5.6 
			 Northumbria — 8.1 — — 1.5 
			 Nottinghamshire — 3.0 5.0 — 4.0 
			 Staffordshire 6.0 7.0 — — 2.0 
			 Suffolk 3.0 6.3 4.0 — 4.5 
			 Surrey 2.0 10.0 11.5 — 8.5 
			 Sussex — 11.0 7.4 — 9.5 
			 Teesside — — 3.0 — 4.0 
			 Thames Valley 4.0 30.5 16.0 6.0 1.7 
			 Warwickshire — 2.0 — — 4.0 
			 West Mercia — 3.0 — — 1.0 
			 West Midlands 5.5 24.0 17.0 — 21.0 
			 Wiltshire — 2.0 — — 5.0 
			 North Yorkshire — — — — 3.0 
			 South Yorkshire — — — — 4.8 
			 West Yorkshire 3.0 12.0 30.0 — 41.5 
			 Dyfed-Powys — 3.8 2.0 2.0 5.5 
			 Gwent — 8.0  — — 
			 North Wales — 3.3 6.0 — 3.3 
			 South Wales 1.0 7.8 11.5 — 15.0 
			 Total 63.5 482.4 450.5 30.0 305.6 
		
	
	(21) Figures shown in wte.
	(22) Information collected in November 2002.
	Notes:
	1. To date, the National Probation Directorate (NPD) nor RDS have not routinely collected information on vacancies within the National Probation Service (NPS) and consequently, the information above was collected during November 2002. These are the most recently available figures.
	2. Work is currently on-going to implement a National Common Data Set for Workforce Information within the NPS, that will enable the regular collection of this information in the future.
	3. Figures for London are given as number of posts, not Full-Time Equivalents.
	4. This number of vacancies represents a percentage of around 8 per cent. over the total National Probation Service staffing level of 15,789 (taken from RDS Probation Statistics 2001).

John Redgrave

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  consequent upon the withdrawal of the members of the Metropolitan Police panel formed to consider the case of John Redgrave, what consultation was extended to John Redgrave's counsel prior to a new date for the hearing being scheduled;
	(2)  if he will require the Commissioner of Metropolitan Police to find a date for the disciplinary hearing of John Redgrave (a) which is convenient for all parties and (b) where he can be represented by his nominated counsel; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  if the Counsel for John Redgrave at his disciplinary hearing indicated his satisfaction with the composition of the disciplinary panel membership prior to the withdrawal of two officers on the panel; and if he will make a statement.
	(4)  why trial members of the Metropolitan Police disciplinary board scheduled to hear the case of John Redgrave withdrew their notices; what notice of their withdrawal was given to John Redgrave's counsel; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  when (a) John Redgrave and (b) his Counsel were advised of the need to reschedule the date of John Redgrave's disciplinary hearing before the Metropolitan Police; when they were advised of the revised date for the hearing; and what steps were taken to seek a mutually agreed date between all parties.

John Denham: holding answer 27 February 2003
	The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis informs me that dates for prospective hearings were set after full consultation with Counsel for DI Redgrave.
	The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis informs me that two of the Discipline Board members stood down on Tuesday 11 February following submissions of possible lack of impartiality by defence Counsel acting on behalf of the other officer facing disciplinary proceedings. I am further informed that DI Redgrave's Counsel was present throughout these proceedings.
	The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis informs me that during the course of the submissions that preceded two of the Discipline Board members standing down Counsel for DI Redgrave stated that he was, "...decidedly neutral".
	The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis informs me that contact with DI Redgrave and his Counsel was made normally through DI Redgrave's solicitors. To that end, solicitors representing DI Redgrave were initially contacted by telephone at lunchtime on the day that members of the Discipline Board withdrew and were informed that efforts were being made to convene a new Board. DI Redgrave's solicitors were further contacted by telephone in an attempt to re-convene the hearing within the originally scheduled period of four weeks, which had been set aside for the hearing. However, when that proved not possible, on 20 February 2003, letters were faxed to solicitors acting on behalf of DI Redgrave and the other officer involved in the proceedings urgently seeking available dates for a hearing, between that date and 1 June 2003.
	Matters related to the conduct of disciplinary proceedings are the responsibility of chief officers. The Secretary of State has no authority to intervene in such matters.

London Prisons

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been allocated to each London prison under the prison service drug strategy during the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: The Prison Service is committed to meeting the needs of all drug-misusing prisoners—to help them lead law-abiding lives on release and, thereby, reduce levels of re-offending. The following table shows the allocations made to each London prison at the start of the 2002–03 financial year.
	
		
			 Prison Total (£000s) 
		
		
			 Belmarsh 609.3 
			 Brixton 632.9 
			 Feltham 733.7 
			 Holloway 301.8 
			 Latchmere House 163.1 
			 Pentonville 504.5 
			 Wandsworth 930.3 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 660.7 
			 Total 4,536.3

Merseyside Neighbourhood Support Scheme

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the work of the Neighbourhood Support Team of the Special Constabulary of Merseyside;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the work of the Special Constabulary on Merseyside.

John Denham: Merseyside Special Constabulary plays an important role in contributing towards crime reduction and public reassurance within their force. They are recognised by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) as being a well managed force, who have put considerable efforts into integrating specials work into that of the regular force and within their neighbourhood policing model.
	The Chief Constable of Merseyside Police also tells me that since its inception in July 2002, the Neighbourhood Support Team of the Special Constabulary has made 84 arrests, itself an impressive record.
	Merseyside Police was one of several forces across the country asked to take forward a project under the 'Specials Champions Initiative', contributing towards Home Office/ACPO Good Practice Guidance which will be published on the new Special Constabulary website (www.specialconstables.gov.uk)

Parole

Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many prisoners who (a) maintain their innocence and (b) admit guilt for the offence for which they have been convicted have been granted parole or life licence in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many prisoners who maintain their innocence have completed offending behaviour programmes in each of the last five years.

Hilary Benn: Offending behaviour programmes vary in their suitability for prisoners who maintain their innocence in relation to their current offence. Information on such prisoners who complete offending behaviour programmes is not centrally recorded by the Prison Service and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
	Information on how many prisoners who (a) maintain their innocence and (b) admit guilt for the offence of which they have been convicted and have been granted parole or life licence in each of the last five years is not centrally recorded by the Prison Service and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. I understand however, that as from January 2003, the Parole Board has begun to collate this data and the results are likely to be published in its future Annual Reports.

Police

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) uniformed officers and (b) civilian staff there were in each police authority area in the North East region (i) in 1996 and (ii) on the most recent date for which figures are available; and if he will express this figure as a ratio per head of population.

John Denham: holding answer 4 March 2003
	The information requested is set out in the table.
	
		
			 Force Police officer numbers Police officers per 100,000 population Civilians Civilians per 100,000 population 
		
		
			 31 March 1996(23) 
			 Durham 1,401 230.4 526.5 86.6 
			 Cleveland 1,420.3 253.6 553.3 98.8 
			 Northumbria 3,668.3 254.4 1,399.3 97.0 
			 North east region 6,489.6 248.6 2,479 95.0 
			 31 March 2002(24) 
			 Durham 1,614 266.0 660 108.8 
			 Cleveland 1,461 262.5 626 112.4 
			 Northumbria 3,929 277.8 1,403 99.2 
			 North east region 7,004 271.8 2,689 104.3 
		
	
	(23) Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, Annual Report 1995–96
	(24) Home Office Research and Statistics Directorate

Police

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many net transfers there were in each police force in (a) 1998–99, (b) 1999–2000, (c) 2000–01 and (d) 2001–02;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of (a) transfers in, (b) transfers out and (c) net transfers for (i) 2002–03 to date and (ii) the full year 2002–03 for each police force.

John Denham: holding answer 4 March 2003
	The information in the table has been provided by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary. Statistics for 2002–03 are not yet available but will be collected by the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate after 31March 2003 and published in due course.
	
		
			   1998–99  1999–2000 
			 Police transfers Transfersfrom force Transfersto force Net transfers Transfersfrom force Transfersto force Net transfers 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 5 47 42 16 29 13 
			 Bedfordshire 1 2 1 5 1 -4 
			 Cambridgeshire 3 21 18 6 12 6 
			 Cheshire 5 22 17 4 12 8 
			 City of London 13 3 -10 13 0 -13 
			 Cleveland 6 0 -6 1 9 8 
			 Cumbria 4 11 7 6 4 -2 
			 Derbyshire 0 15 15 6 10 4 
			 Devon and Cornwall 8 3 -5 8 19 11 
			 Dorset 0 4 4 3 54 51 
			 Durham 3 15 12 3 6 3 
			 Dyfed-Powys 2 17 15 5 15 10 
			 Essex 6 9 3 10 23 13 
			 Gloucestershire 1 3 2 3 13 10 
			 Greater Manchester 13 19 6 15 25 10 
			 Gwent 3 8 5 3 23 20 
			 Hampshire 12 11 -1 20 31 11 
			 Hertfordshire 23 11 -12 23 25 2 
			 Humberside 5 10 5 5 15 10 
			 Kent 11 5 -6 12 18 6 
			 Lancashire 10 0 -10 7 7 0 
			 Leicestershire 6 13 7 13 8 -5 
			 Lincolnshire 1 5 4 5 14 9 
			 Merseyside 16 15 -1 10 9 -1 
			 Metropolitan Police 234 23 -211 244 36 -208 
			 Norfolk 5 9 4 2 13 11 
			 North Wales 5 4 -1 5 14 9 
			 North Yorkshire 5 0 -5 5 10 5 
			 Northamptonshire 3 8 5 2 3 1 
			 Northumbria 7 36 29 9 7 -2 
			 Nottinghamshire 13 0 -13 10 9 -1 
			 South Wales 6 16 10 11 7 -4 
			 South Yorkshire 10 18 8 8 22 14 
			 Staffordshire 5 14 9 2 2 0 
			 Suffolk 5 9 4 5 2 -3 
			 Surrey 11 22 11 18 43 25 
			 Sussex 13 16 3 21 21 0 
			 Thames Valley 10 4 -6 26 1 -25 
			 Warwickshire 7 17 10 2 3 1 
			 West Mercia 5 16 11 6 2 -4 
			 West Midlands 47 23 -24 42 26 -16 
			 West Yorkshire 11 6 -5 15 0 -15 
			 Wiltshire 1 10 9 7 13 6 
		
	
	
		
			  2000–01 2001–02 
			  Transfersfrom force Transfersto force Net transfers Transfersfrom force Transfersto force Net transfers 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 25 48 23 19 44 25 
			 Bedfordshire 21 9 -12 51 6 -45 
			 Cambridgeshire 12 15 3 26 27 1 
			 Cheshire 6 8 2 18 8 -10 
			 City of London 18 2 -16 11 42 31 
			 Cleveland 4 0 -4 4 17 13 
			 Cumbria 10 9 -1 18 29 11 
			 Derbyshire 5 3 -2 6 18 12 
			 Devon and Cornwall 7 62 55 13 87 74 
			 Dorset 9 36 27 20 36 16 
			 Durham 5 14 9 10 10 0 
			 Dyfed-Powys 9 13 4 4 23 19 
			 Essex 25 50 25 56 50 -6 
			 Gloucestershire 6 14 8 20 18 -2 
			 Greater Manchester 28 48 20 39 64 25 
			 Gwent 5 13 8 8 15 7 
			 Hampshire 24 41 17 61 54 -7 
			 Hertfordshire 43 31 -12 59 54 -5 
			 Humberside 18 10 -8 12 24 12 
			 Kent 26 30 4 28 24 -4 
			 Lancashire 7 13 6 36 28 -8 
			 Leicestershire 27 34 7 37 13 -24 
			 Lincolnshire 6 32 26 6 8 2 
			 Merseyside 14 18 4 8 17 9 
			 Metropolitan Police 382 79 -303 436 196 -240 
			 Norfolk 6 28 22 9 33 24 
			 North Wales 2 19 17 0 32 32 
			 North Yorkshire 5 36 31 4 80 76 
			 Northamptonshire 10 16 6 13 29 16 
			 Northumbria 5 9 4 26 29 3 
			 Nottinghamshire 6 33 27 14 42 28 
			 South Wales 3 60 57 6 12 6 
			 South Yorkshire 4 21 17 12 26 14 
			 Staffordshire 9 2 -7 22 35 13 
			 Suffolk 11 8 -3 3 21 18 
			 Surrey 171 303 132 246 55 -191 
			 Sussex 31 23 -8 34 29 -5 
			 Thames Valley 80 9 -71 72 13 -59 
			 Warwickshire 8 2 -6 17 27 10 
			 West Mercia 6 18 12 10 65 55 
			 West Midlands 59 22 -37 132 41 -91 
			 West Yorkshire. 19 21 2 47 22 -25 
			 Wiltshire 12 15 3 10 22 12

Police

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many police officers transferred from Essex Police to (a) the Metropolitan Police and (b) the City of London Police in the last 12 months for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many police officers have transferred to the Essex Police from (a) the Metropolitan Police and (b) the City of London Police in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

John Denham: Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary collects information annually about the total number of officers transferring in and out of each force. The information collected does not distinguish the force of origin or destination of officers who have transferred. The latest information is for 2001–02 and the table shows the total numbers of officers transferring in and out of the Essex, City of London and Metropolitan police forces.
	
		
			 Force Transfers out Transfers in 
		
		
			 City of London 11 42 
			 Essex 56 50 
			 Metropolitan 436 196 
		
	
	Essex Police, in common with a number of other forces in and around London, is concerned about issues relating to the retention of police officers, including a net outflow of officers on transfer.
	We are therefore working with Chief Constables, Police Authorities and staff associations in and around London, including Essex, to look at all the associated issues and to develop practical solutions.

Police

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the basic command unit fund is exempt from the requirement to save 5 per cent. overtime costs set out in the Police Reform Act 2002.

John Denham: The Basic Command Unit (BCD) Fund, allocated £50 million in each of the three years from 2003–04, is provided to help the frontline deliver crime and disorder reduction locally and promote partnership working. The funding may be spent on a range of crime and disorder work and on building the capacity of Partnerships to deliver, as part of a coherent local strategy.
	Where the BCU fund is used for police operations, it may be necessary for officers to be deployed outside their normal duty hours. Where that is necessary, it will need to be planned in accordance with the Agreement reached in the Police Negotiating Board (PNB) on managing overtime. That Agreement is about giving police officers a better work/life balance. It is not about cutting costs or reducing the availability of officers for operational duties, including, when the need arises, beyond their rostered hours.
	Under the PNB Agreement, forces will have local targets for reducing their overtime bill, agreed between the chief constable and the police authority, with the approval of the Inspectorate. In monitoring forces' performance against their targets, the Inspectorate is expressly required, under the PNB Agreement, to take account of force strength, unforeseen major incidents and new requirements. So, the Inspectorate will ensure that any new spending on overtime to deliver reductions in crime—such as from the BCD fund—is taken into account when assessing forces' performance against their overtime targets.

Police

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were per notifiable offence in England in each year from 1977–78 to 2002–03 (estimated); and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: The requested information is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Number of officers per 1,000 notifiable offences in England 
		
		
			 1977 41 
			 1978 41 
			 1979 43 
			 1980 42 
			 1981 39 
			 1982 36 
			 1983 37 
			 1984 34 
			 1985 33 
			 1986 31 
			 1987 31 
			 1988 33 
			 1989 32 
			 1990 27 
			 1991 24 
			 1992 22 
			 1993 23 
			 1994 24 
			 1995 24 
			 1996 25 
			 1997 27 
			 1997–98(25) 27 
			 1998–99(26) 24 
			 1999–2000 23 
			 2000–01 24 
			 2001–02 23 
		
	
	(25) Recorded crime data expressed on a financial year basis from this point onwards
	(26) Revised rules for recording crime were introduced on 1 April 1998. The ratios before and after this date are therefore not directly comparable.

Police

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the resident population of each English police authority was in the latest year for which figures are available.

John Denham: holding answer 27 February 2003
	The latest available total resident population, as at 30 June 2001, as estimated by the Registrar General, is given in the table.
	
		
			 Police authority Population 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 1,483,450 
			 Bedfordshire 566,415 
			 Cambridgeshire 710,032 
			 Cheshire 983,670 
			 City of London 7,216 
			 Cleveland 541,262 
			 Cumbria 487,792 
			 Derbyshire 956,560 
			 Devon and Cornwall 1,578,595 
			 Dorset 693,460 
			 Durham 591,551 
			 Essex 1,616,246 
			 Gloucester 565,000 
			 Greater Manchester 2,482,824 
			 Hampshire 1,778,181 
			 Hertfordshire 1,034,895 
			 Humberside 869,099 
			 Kent 1,580,870 
			 Lancashire 1,415,596 
			 Leicestershire 924,661 
			 Lincolnshire 647,649 
			 Merseyside 1,361,658 
			 Metropolitan Police 7,180,790 
			 Norfolk 797,906 
			 North Yorkshire 751,414 
			 Northamptonshire 630,444 
			 Northumbria 1,383,718 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,015,767 
			 South Yorkshire 1,266,487 
			 Staffordshire 1,047,575 
			 Suffolk 669,366 
			 Surrey 1,059,469 
			 Sussex 1,495,453 
			 Thames Valley 2,092,923 
			 Warwickshire 506,200 
			 West Mercia 1,158,958 
			 West Midlands 2,554,365 
			 West Yorkshire 2,080,165 
			 Wiltshire 613,657 
			 Total 49,181,339

Police

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of telephone call-handling facilities for the public at each English police authority in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: Information on the costs of telephone services to police authorities in England are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Police forces in England have developed telephone call-handling facilities to deal with calls from the public. Again, information relating to the costs of providing such facilities are not held centrally and could not be collected except at disproportionate cost.

Police Cells

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many arrests have taken place in (a) Chorley, (b) south Ribble and (c) west Lancashire in each of the last three years; to which custody suite were arrestees taken; and how many went to Magistrates court;
	(2)  whether the extension to police cells at south Ribble will change the cells' status;
	(3)  how many custody suites are operated by Lancashire police; how many cells are in each; and where they are;
	(4)  how many police cells have been taken out of action in Lancashire in the last 12 months;
	(5)  what the timescale is for re-opening police cells that have been closed in Lancashire.

John Denham: holding answer 3 March 2003
	I understand from the Chief Constable of Lancashire that there are nine custody suites operated by Lancashire Constabulary. These are located in Blackpool (30 cells), Lancaster (nine cells), Fleetwood (eight cells), Leyland (eight cells), Skelmersdale (17 cells), Preston (22 cells), Greenbank (36 cells), Burnley (16 cells) and Colne (eight cells).
	Lancashire Constabulary intends to add about six cells to Leyland police station (South Ribble) within the next couple of years. It will retain its status as one of only two custody suites in Lancashire designed as suitable for the detention of terrorists and other Category A prisoners.
	I will ask the Chief Constable of Lancashire to write to the hon. Member about the number of police cells taken out of action in Lancashire in the last 12 months.
	The detailed information requested about arrests in Chorley, South Ribble and West Lancashire is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, I understand from Lancashire Constabulary that around 2,500 to 3,000 people per annum are arrested in each of these three areas.

Prison Inspectors

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many inspectors of HM Prisons were employed in each year since 1997.

Hilary Benn: The number of inspectors employed by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons for each year since 1997 is set out in the table. The number of core inspectors in column one covers full-time equivalent posts employed by or seconded to the Inspectorate, and includes the Chief and Deputy Chief Inspectors. The number of specialist inspectors in column two includes staff employed on both a full and part-time basis. Guest inspectors employed by other inspectorates, for example OFSTED, or those consultants used on an ad hoc basis, are excluded.
	
		
			  Core Inspectors Specialist Inspectors 
		
		
			 1 December 1997—30 November 1998 10 7 
			 1 December 1998—30 November 1999 10 6 
			 1 December 1999—30 November 2000 12 6 
			 1 August 2001—31 August 2002 14 10

Prison Service Chief

Alice Mahon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason the post of the Director General of HM Prison Service was not advertised.

Hilary Benn: The official appointed Director General of the Prison Service is an established civil servant of the same grade as the post. He also has all of the necessary competences for the job and, as the former Deputy Director General, is the most senior Prison Service operational manager and has the greatest experience. Given the circumstances outlined, the Civil Service Commission's rules permitted the post to be filled without advertisement.

Prison Food

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of prisons offer fresh fruit each day to prisoners.

Hilary Benn: All prison establishments are required to offer fresh fruit to prisoners daily.

Drug Treatment

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offenders (a) in prison and (b) in the community were receiving treatment for drug problems in each of the last five years.

Hilary Benn: Information on the number of prisoners receiving treatment for drug problems was not collected centrally until 2001–02 and is given in the following table.
	
		2001–02
		
			  Number 
		
		
			  
			  
			 Detoxification 40,865 
			 Carats(27) 39,279 
			 Rehabilitation 4,691 
		
	
	(27) Counselling, assessment, referral, advice, throughcare
	Powers to impose a drug and/or alcohol treatment requirement, as part of a Community Rehabilitation Order or a Community Punishment and Rehabilitation Order were contained in the Powers of Criminal Courts Act 1973, now the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000. However, these statistics do not differentiate between alcohol and drugs. From October 2000, when the Drug Treatment and Testing Order was rolled-out to courts in England and Wales, the power to attach a drug treatment requirement to a Community Rehabilitation Order or Community Rehabilitation and Punishment order was removed.
	The table gives figures for Community Rehabilitation Orders and Community Punishment and Rehabilitation Orders that contain a drug and/or alcohol element for the years 1997 to 200l and the number of Drug Treatment and Testing Orders made between October 2000-December 2001.
	
		Persons starting probation service supervision with drugs/alcohol additional requirement attached to the main order— England and Wales
		
			  Number of persons 
			 Type of additional requirement 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 
		
		
			 Community rehabilitation orders 
			 Residential drugs/alcohol treatment 346 299 276 236 192 
			 Non-residential drugs/alcohol treatment 1,039 1,394 1,590 1,795 1,133 
			 Drugs/alcohol treatment by/under qualified medical person 631 843 1,131 1,101 793 
			 Total 2,016 2,536 2,997 3,132 2,118 
			  
			 Community punishment and rehabilitation orders 
			 Residential drugs/alcohol treatment 4 5 3 1 6 
			 Non-residential drugs/alcohol treatment 165 238 238 175 143 
			 Drugs/alcohol treatment by/under qualified medical person 92 105 110 1.31 71 
			 Total 261 348 351 307 220

Drug Treatment

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional resources will be allocated for drug treatment and testing orders in each of the next two financial years.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 28 February 2003
	Additional funding of £17.7 million and £40 million respectively over the next two financial years has been allocated for drug treatment and testing orders.

Rehabilitation

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on prison resources directed at the rehabilitation of 18 to 21 year-old young offenders.

Hilary Benn: I shall write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my reply in the Library.

Rehabilitation

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the early provisional indications of the Cognitive Self-Change Programme for Prisoners.

Hilary Benn: Preliminary psychometric data is showing reductions in hostility, aggression and impulsivity for the small number of prisoners who have completed the programme. More information will be available as prisoners progress through the programme and further analysis is undertaken.

Renewable Energy

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes in unit payments for electricity have resulted from the switch by his Department to purchasing renewable energy which is exempt from the Climate Change Levy.

Beverley Hughes: For the financial year 2001–2002 the average unit price of the renewable electricity (inclusive of VAT) purchased by the Home Department was 4.6610p/kWh and the average unit price of standard electricity was 4.5918p/kWh so there was an increase of 0.82 per cent in the average price paid. These figures are for the non-Agency Home Office, other than minor occupations where electricity consumption is minimal and figures are not collected centrally.

Special Constabulary

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the remuneration of special constables.

John Denham: We have introduced the Special Constabulary (Amendment) Regulations 2002 to allow Police Authorities, following a recommendation of the Chief Officer, to make proposals to pay a locally funded allowance to special constables appointed for their area (or part of their area). Such schemes will require the approval of the Secretary of State.
	The change in Regulations will enable a number of trial schemes to be run to help establish what effect such locally funded payments have on Specials' recruitment and retention and the number of hours they are able to offer their force.

Special Constabulary

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the strength was of the special constabulary in each police authority area in (a) May 1997 and (b) May 2001; and what the strength is in each area.

John Denham: Special constabulary numbers for this period are recorded centrally every six months in September and March. The latest figures available and the number of serving special constables in each police force area for March 1997 and 2001 are set out in the table.
	
		
			 Police force area March 1997 March 2001 March 2002 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 759 400 364 
			 Bedfordshire 182 115 118 
			 Cambridgeshire 303 218 207 
			 Cheshire 475 290 191 
			 Cleveland 160 93 85 
			 Cumbria 189 156 102 
			 Derbyshire 428 275 260 
			 Devon and Cornwall 1,148 796 689 
			 Dorset 289 267 253 
			 Durham 184 146 134 
			 Essex 634 445 381 
			 Gloucestershire 297 183 154 
			 Greater Manchester 685 367 338 
			 Hampshire 621 454 444 
			 Hampshire 621 454 444 
			 Hertfordshire 297 198 206 
			 Humberside 340 212 207 
			 Kent 589 392 327 
			 Lancashire 483 360 363 
			 Leicestershire 415 162 143 
			 Lincolnshire 271 166 155 
			 City of London 86 43 36 
			 Merseyside 401 541 468 
			 Metropolitan Police 1,714 774 680 
			 Norfolk 402 259 244 
			 Northamptonshire 316 188 177 
			 Northumbria 533 300 256 
			 North Yorkshire 362 182 185 
			 Nottinghamshire 620 335 341 
			 South Yorkshire 308 188 206 
			 Staffordshire 685 402 384 
			 Suffolk 379 349 308 
			 Surrey 297 149 187 
			 Sussex 472 306 306 
			 Thames Valley 656 418 356 
			 Warwickshire 381 221 209 
			 West Mercia 582 399 339 
			 West Midlands 945 617 598 
			 West Yorkshire 690 415 349 
			 Wiltshire 154 152 147 
			 Dyfed-Powys 283 191 157 
			 Gwent 157 137 142 
			 North Wales 341 207 125 
			 South Wales 361 254 277 
			 Total all forces 19,874 12,722 11,598 
		
	
	Since March 1998, information on the strength of special constabularies for each Police Force has been published in the Home Office Statistical Bulletins on police strength in England and Wales, copies of which are available in the Library.

Special Constabulary

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will make a statement on the outcome of the Special Constabulary Weekend of 21–23 February.

John Denham: The initial responses that we have received following the National Specials Weekend have been very positive, showing the impressive contribution that specials make to policing. Some of the activities of the Weekend will form the basis of an article to be published in March in 'Specialbeat' (an internal Special Constabulary magazine). An article on the Weekend's outcomes will also appear on the new website www.specialconstables.gov.uk which was launched at the same time as the Weekend. I am grateful to the hon. Member who replied to my invitation to support the Weekend.

Special Constabulary

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will make further funding available to chief constables to finance allowances under the Special Constables (Amendment) Regulations 2002 to assist schemes aimed at the recruitment and retention of special constables; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will investigate local schemes introduced under the Special Constables (Amendment) Regulations 2002 to assess the effect of payment on recruitment and retention of special constables; and if he will publish the findings of such an investigation;
	(3)  how many police authorities have applied to him for approval to introduce an allowance for special constables under the Special Constables (Amendment) Regulations 2002; how many he has (a) approved and (b) refused; and what measures he has taken to monitor schemes;
	(4)  what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to exempt special constables from income tax being levied on allowances paid under the Special Constables (Amendment) Regulations 2002; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: We recognise that some forces feel it would be helpful to use local funding to pay specials involved in particular schemes and introduced The Special Constables (Amendment) Regulations 2002, which came into force on 10 January 2003. Under these new regulations, Police Authorities may, following a recommendation by the Chief Officer, make proposals to pay a locally funded allowance to special constables appointed for their area (or part of their area). Proposals must have the approval of the Secretary of State.
	It is for the Police Authority to propose the size and terms and conditions of an allowance appropriate to their area or scheme. It will be open to police authorities to obtain sponsorship to help fund the schemes or to fund them entirely from their existing resources. We expect that, when they are developing proposals, police authorities will take advice from the Inland Revenue on the likely implications of paying an allowance.
	Several police authorities have expressed an interest in developing allowance schemes but we have yet to receive any formal proposals. We will be looking for a number of innovative trial schemes which will enable an evidence-based assessment to be made of the effect of local payment schemes on recruitment and retention and the number of hours offered by specials, and whether such schemes offer value for money.

Civil Contingencies

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from (a) the St John's Ambulance and (b) the Red Cross concerning contingency civil defence (i) planning and (ii) readiness in the event of an NBC terrorist attack in (A) London, (B) the South East, (C) England and (D) the United Kingdom.

David Blunkett: I have received no representations from the St John's Ambulance or the Red Cross concerning any aspect of civil contingency planning or preparedness.
	My hon friend the Minister of State in the Cabinet Office, (Mr Alexander) has provided further details of how voluntary organisations have been involved in civil defence preparedness, Official Report, column 495W.
	I am aware that my rt hon friend the Secretary of State for Health met Sir Nicholas Young, the British Red Cross Chief Executive, on 7 January this year to discuss ways of strengthening and deepening strategic partnerships between the Department of Health and the Red Cross. There are a number of key common interests including emergency response. Work on these common interests continues. The Department of Health is also closely involved in the work of the National Aid Societies' Emergency Committee (NVASEC) which comprises the Red Cross and St John Ambulance. NVASEC has responsibility for planning such requirements as may be agreed with the Government for the provision of support to the medical services of the Armed Forces, the Health Service of Local Authorities in all encompassing peace time and wartime support role.

Traffic Accidents (Havering)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the rate of road traffic accidents in the London Borough of Havering;
	(2)  what recent communication he has had with the police in the London Borough of Havering regarding road traffic accidents.

John Denham: I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that there were 957 reported road traffic accidents in Havering in 2001 and 801 in the period from January to November 2002, the latest for which figures are available. This shows an encouraging downwards trend. Havering Borough continues to demonstrate its commitment to road safety by the deployment of two dedicated road safety officers. The National Policing Plan provides that all police forces and local authorities should include in their local policing plans targeted and intelligence-led strategies for reducing deaths and injuries on the road and achieving a safe environment for all road users.

Young Prisoners

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what new instructions have been issued to prison and social service staff as a result of the judicial review brought by the Howard League for Penal Reform on the Children's Act.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 3 March 2003
	Following the High Court judgment in the judicial review brought by the Howard League on the application of the Children Act 1989 to children in young offender institutions (YOIs), guidance has been issued to all Area Managers, Governors and Directors, with responsibilities for children in custody. The guidance states that the Act does apply to children in YOIs and the duties imposed on local authorities do not cease to arise merely because a child is in a YOI.
	The possible need for further guidance for other audiences is being considered as part of the Government's response to Recommendation 2.8 of the Joint Chief Inspectors' report 'Safeguarding Children', which recommends that the Home Office and the Youth Justice Board should issue revised guidance to the Prison Service and the area child protection committee member organisations on the requirements and arrangements to safeguard children in prisons and YOI.

Young Prisoners

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many young people in prison are on the Duke of Edinburgh awards scheme (a) in each prison and (b) in total; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many young people in prison have achieved a Duke of Edinburgh award (a) in each prison and (b) in total in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: Full awards under the Duke of Edinburgh scheme in Prison Service establishments holding juveniles and young offenders over the period August 2001—February 2003 inclusive are set out in the table. Information on awards obtained before August 2001 is not available. Information on the number of individual prisoners undertaking the Duke of Edinburgh awards scheme is not recorded centrally.
	
		
			 Establishments Bronze Award Silver Award 
		
		
			 Aylesbury 4  
			 Bullwood Hall 8  
			 Castington 2  
			 Deerbolt 10  
			 Doncaster 4  
			 Feltham 10  
			 Moorland 11  
			 Onley 9  
			 Swinfen Hall 10  
			 Thorn Cross 4  
			 Wetherby 8 1

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Small Businesses

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the Government is doing to maintain the number of small manufacturers; what efforts are being made to improve resources and funding for the small business service; and if she will make a statement.

Nigel Griffiths: The Government's manufacturing strategy highlights the importance of increasing the uptake of best practice and improving skills, capital investment and innovation as key to the long-term survival of UK manufacturers. The Small Business Service (SBS) works closely with DTI colleagues responsible for the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS). In all regions the MAS is being delivered in close association with Business Links Operators. In addition SBS runs a number of national programmes which include the provision of specific assistance to manufacturing companies, including the Inside UK Enterprise programme of best practice visits, and the Benchmark Index, which includes a report focused on SME manufacturing, aimed at making it easier for individual manufacturing companies to compare their performance with that of their competitors, and to learn from each other. In "Small Business and Government—The Way Forward", published in December 2002, the Government set out its policy framework towards small business, including the key role of the SBS as a centre of expertise on small business issues in Government. The resources for the SBS in 2003–04 are being considered in the context of the development of its Business Plan for that year, which will be published on www.sbs.gov.uk.

Auditing/Accounting

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will publish minutes of her meetings with the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Melanie Johnson: In line with the common practice of this and previous governments, we do not publish such minutes under Exemption 2—Internal Advice and Discussion—of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Auditing/Accounting

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will propose legislation under which plcs would be required to publish their accounts within 90 days of the year end.

Melanie Johnson: The Government's plans for a revised reporting regime for all companies were contained in the White Paper "Modernising Company Law" (Cm 5553), published in July 2002. This included the proposal that public companies should be required to file their annual reporting documents with Companies House within six months of the year end as opposed to seven months at present. In addition, quoted public companies would normally publish these documents on the internet within four months of the year end.

Auditing/Accounting

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will introduce legislation under which accountants would be forbidden from acting as reporting accountants for a bank and then becoming liquidators and receivers on behalf of the same.

Melanie Johnson: We do not intend to introduce such legislation. Under existing guidelines for liquidators, where there has been a prior material professional relationship no principal or employee of the firm acting as reporting accountants should accept appointment as liquidator of an insolvent company. If the company is solvent, the insolvency practitioner should nevertheless give careful consideration to all the implications of his accepting appointment as liquidator.
	Under existing guidelines for receivers, any insolvency practitioner proposed to be appointed administrative receiver of a company after acting as reporting accountant should take steps to satisfy himself either that the company does not object to his acceptance of the appointment or that the circumstances are such that, in accepting the appointment, he will be able to act, and be seen to act, independently and effectively.
	Under the Enterprise Act 2002 the circumstances in which the holder of a floating charge will be able to appoint an administrative receiver will be significantly reduced.

Auditing/Accounting

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will publish her Department's correspondence with the Accounting Standards Board over the implementation and compliance with FRS17.

Melanie Johnson: The Department has had no correspondence with the Accounting Standards Board over the implementation and compliance with FRS17.

Auditing/Accounting

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when officials of her Department had meetings with partners in Arthur Andersen to discuss the firm's role in (a) Enron and (b) WorldCom.

Melanie Johnson: Officials in the Department had no meetings with partners in Arthur Andersen to discuss the firm's role in Enron and WorldCom.

Auditing/Accounting

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what regulatory action was taken by her Department against the auditors of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International.

Melanie Johnson: The Supervisory Bodies of the accountancy profession are currently responsible for taking action against individual auditors. In the case of the Bank of Credit & Commerce International, action was taken against the auditors/firms by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW), through the Joint Disciplinary Scheme (JDS). The results were published by the press.
	Arrangements for monitoring and disciplining audit firms are to change as a result of the recent Review of the Regulatory Regime of the Accountancy Profession. Copies of the Review Report have been placed in the Libraries of House.

Carbon Dioxide

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the environmental consequences of depositing carbon dioxide on the seabed.

Brian Wilson: We have, of course, no plans to deposit carbon dioxide on the seabed. We are, however, currently investigating the environmental impact and associated risks of the geological sequestration of carbon dioxide deep beneath the seabed and its use in enhancing the recovery of oil from our reserves in the North Sea. We expect to report our findings on this in the Spring when the Report of the Feasibility of CO2 Capture and Storage in the UK is published.

Company Financial Statements

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make it her policy to propose legislation to make company directors personally liable for the authenticity of company financial statements.

Melanie Johnson: This is already the case under section 233 of the Companies Act 1985.

E-Commerce

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of the total UK GDP was constituted by e-commerce transactions in (a) 2000, (b) 2001 and (c) 2002.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 11 February 2003
	Sales and purchases over the internet are measured by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) as a proportion of the total value of sales and purchases. For statistical reasons this is more useful than measuring them as a proportion of GDP. GDP is a measure of economic activity, and therefore includes only the value added at each stage of development of a product or service. Data for 2002 will not be available until October 2003.
	
		ONS E-Commerce Survey of UK Businesses: Sales and Purchases Made Over the Internet (excluding those for the finance sector(28))
		
			 Year Sales over the internet £ billion Sales over the Internet as % of total value of sales Purchases over the internet £ billion Purchases over the internet as % of total value of purchases 
		
		
			 2001 18.4 1.0 23.4 1.7 
		
	
	The 2000 ONS survey only covered enterprises with 10 or more employees, and slightly fewer areas of the economy
	(28). The 2001 figures shown below are on a consistent basis to give year on year comparability.
	
		
			  
		
		
			 2001 £17 billion 1.0% £19.5 billion 1.7% 
			  
			 2000 £12 billion 0.9% £15.6 billion 1.6% 
		
	
	Notes:
	(29) There are particular measurement difficulties associated with capturing e-commerce activity and turnover in the financial sector, preventing the calculation of a reliable estimate for the value of e-commerce in this sector. ONS is working with international organisations (Eurostat, OECD) to help identify a solution but as yet no agreed method has been identified.
	(30) The 2000 survey also covered slightly fewer areas of the economy, with the following sectors added for 2001: health and social work; recreational, cultural and sporting activities; other service activities. Sectors covered in both years were: manufacturing, utilities, construction, wholesale and retail, hotels and restaurants, transport and communication, finance and other business services.

Enron

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the inquiries that her Department made into the auditing standards of Arthur Andersen as a result of the Enron case.

Melanie Johnson: The Department has made no such enquiries. The Joint Monitoring Unit of the Consultative Committee of Accounting Bodies and the ACCA Monitoring Unit are currently responsible for monitoring audit firms.
	Arrangements for monitoring and disciplining audit firms are to be strengthened as a result of the recent Review of the Regulatory Regime of the Accountancy Profession. Copies of the Review Report have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Equal Treatment Directive

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress she has made on implementing the EU Equal Treatment Directive.

Patricia Hewitt: We are currently carrying out a detailed analysis of the amended Equal Treatment Directive to identify all changes which may be needed to the Sex Discrimination Act. We used the recent consultation exercise on implementing the Article 13 Employment and Race Directives to consult at the same time on those provisions in the amended Equal Treatment Directive where the line taken is similar.

Magnet Sales

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what investigations her Department has conducted into the end use to which magnets sold by the British company Endshire Export Marketing were put by the German buyer.

Nigel Griffiths: None. These allegations relate to 1992 and earlier, and any investigations are the responsibility of Her Majesty's Customs and Excise.

Mobile Phones

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the response of mobile phone operators to the Competition Commission's proposals on mobile phone charges, seeking to reduce their charges;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the effect of the Competition Commission's proposals on mobile phone charges on the rollout of third generation mobile phones;
	(3)  what assessment she has made of the impact of implementing the Competition Commission's proposals on mobile phone charges on the mobile phone operators in the United Kingdom.

Stephen Timms: This is a matter for the Competition Commission. The report itself is currently subject to judicial review. The Competition Commission is independent from Government.
	All mobile operators across Europe are facing financial constraints due to the overall state of the industry.
	However the UK will be the first major market in Europe to roll out 3G with all five operators still on track to launch in 2003. This is in marked contrast to other European markets where operators have postponed their 3G launch—Orange for example have delayed their 3G roll-out across Europe except in the UK—and this is a vindication of the Government's policy in bringing in a new entrant to increase competition.

Money Laundering

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action she has taken against accountancy firms who do not report suspicions of money laundering to the National Criminal Intelligence Service.

Melanie Johnson: This Department is not responsible for prosecutions for failure to report suspicions of money laundering to the National Criminal Intelligence Service.
	It is a matter for HM Treasury.

PLC Accounts

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the steps that her Department takes to monitor the quality of accounts published by public limited companies.

Melanie Johnson: The Financial Reporting Review Panel has responsibility for the enforcement of accounting standards for both listed and large private companies.

Pollution

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) complaints, (b) court actions and (c) fines against industry for problems related to (i) odours, (ii) water pollution, (iii) air pollution and (iv) human health impact (A) in total, (B) in each region and (C) per site there have been in each year since 1995.

Alun Michael: I have been asked to reply.
	The Environment Agency does not collect all the requested information and has relevant data only since 1999. All the pollution control systems listed below address human health impact, although figures are not kept separately for offences relating to actual or potential human health impacts. No data are held on complaints. The following information is available from the Agency's database.
	Data on odours are not kept separately but are included in data for waste licensing, the total fines for which were as follows:
	
		
			 Date Total (£) Regional breakdown (£) 
		
		
			 1999 46,650 Anglian 8,000, Midlands 11,750, NE 11,000, NW 6,400, Southern 9,500 
			 2000 226,400 Anglian 27,000, Midlands 107,500, NE 8,000, NW 43,200, Southern 16,200, Thames 1,500, Welsh 23,000 
			 2001 124,834 Anglian 3,000, Midlands 72,500, NE 4,334, NW 7,500, Southern 23,500, Welsh 14,000 
			 2002 176,800 Anglian 30,500, Midlands 12,600, NE 6,000, NW 72,500, SW 2,500, Southern 41,450, Thames 6,000, Welsh 5,250 
		
	
	Of these fines below, the following related to offences under section 33(1)(c) of the Environmental Protection Act: to treat, keep or dispose of controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health.
	Total fines in England and Wales in respect of integrated pollution control and integrated pollution prevention (which also includes odour offences) were as follows:
	
		
			 Date Total (£) Regional breakdown (£) 
		
		
			 1999 100,050 Anglian 1,000, Midlands 1,750, NE 9,000, SW 4,300, Thames 59,000, Welsh 25,000 
			 2000 352,500 Midlands 50,000, NE 166,000, NW 70,000, SW 30,000, Thames 44,000, Welsh 2,500 
			 2001 92,000 Midlands 33,000, Thames 44,000, Welsh 15,000 
			 2002 22,750 Midlands 5,000, NE 10,000, NW 7,500, Welsh 250 
		
	
	Total fines in England and Wales in respect of water pollution were as follows:
	
		
			 Date Total (£) Regional breakdown (£) 
		
		
			 1999 46,450 Anglian 8,000, Midlands 11,750, NE 11,000, NW 6,400, Southern 9,500 
			 2000 226,400 Anglian 27,000, Midlands 107,500, NE 8, 000, NW 43,200, Southern 16,200, Thames 1,500, Welsh 23,000 
			 2001 124,834 Anglian 3,000, Midlands 72,500, NE 4,334, NW 7,500, Southern 23,500, Welsh 14,000 
			 2002 176,800 Anglian 30,500, Midlands 12,600, NE 6,000, NW 72,500, SW 2,500, Southern 41,450, Thames 6,000, Welsh 5,250 
		
	
	Of these fines below, the following related to offences under section 33(1)(c) of the Environmental Protection Act: to treat, keep or dispose of controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health.
	
		
			 Date Total (£) Regional breakdown (£) 
		
		
			 1999 123,100 Midlands 30,350, NE 81,500, NW 5,500, Southern 2,500, Welsh 3,250 
			 2000 47,835 Midlands 24,135, NW 2,500, SW 4,000, Soutehrn 3,000, Thames 1,000, Welsh 3,200 
			 2001 85,950 Anglian 6,000, Midlands 51,050, NE 1,000, NW 2,500, Southern 4,000, Thames 12,000, Welsh 9,400 
			 2002 123,700 Anglian 52,000, Midlands 33,000, NW 10,000, SW 16,000, Thames 3,000, Welsh 9,700 
		
	
	Total fines in England and Wales in respect of integrated pollution control and integrated pollution prevention (which also includes odour offences) were as follows:
	
		
			 Date Total (£) Regional breakdown (£) 
		
		
			 1999 704,755 Anglian 145,000, Midlands 28,950, NE 64,700, NW 148,500, SW 19,305, Southern 91,050, Thames 137,000, Welsh 70,250 
			 2000 1,178,450 Anglian 226,250, Midlands 188,500, NE 81,600, NW 78,400, SW 77,800, Soutehrn 123,000, Thames 264,350, Welsh 138,550 
			 2001 1,306,700 Anglian 233,300, Midlands 112,100, NE 125,950, NW 175,150, SW 96,150, Southern 101,950, Thames 243,600, Welsh 218,500 
			 2002 1,943,766 Anglian 267,950, Midlands 214,700, NE 69,000, NW 391,900, SW 181,550, Southern 85,580, Thames 387,586, Welsh 145,500 
		
	
	Local authorities also regulate air pollution from industry. The Department does not collect information about numbers of complaints or distinguish between the different court actions. Data on prosecutions from the Department's annual statistical report on the Local Air Pollution Control regime, available from 1997, is as follows.
	
		
			 Date Total (£) Regional breakdown (£) 
		
		
			 1997–98 62,400 West Midlands 17,750, NW 9,000, Yorks & Humber 1,000, NW 16,500, Wales 12,500, East Midlands 650, East of England 5,000 
			 1998–99 88,900 NE 10,000, West Midlands 38,250, NW 7,000, East of England 8,000, Wales 5,000, SE 12,650, East Midlands 8,000 
			 1999–00 175,500 South East 4,000, Yorks & Humber 21,500, East Midlands 4,000, Wales 146,000 
			 2000–01 87,510 East of England 72,400, West Midlands 2,000, Yorks & Humber 5,500, SW 7,250 
			 2001–02 62,500 Yorks & Humber 10,500, West Midlands 15,000, SE 29,000, Welsh 8,000 
		
	
	The Department holds no data on odour. This information is available from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.

Regulatory Bodies

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many inspection staff have been employed by (a) the Office of Fair Trading and (b) the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate in each year since 1997.

Melanie Johnson: (a) The number of inspection staff employed by the Office of Fair Trading in each year since 1997 is as follows:
	1997 0
	1998 0
	1999 0
	2000 12
	2001 12
	2002 12
	2003 15
	(b) The number of inspection staff employed by Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate in each year since 1997 is as follows:
	1997 9
	1998 9
	1999 9
	2000 13
	2001 13
	2002 14
	2003 14
	For both sets of figures, the term inspection staff has been taken to mean investigations staff authorised to enter premises.

Regulatory Bodies

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) staff and (b) inspection staff were employed by the Office of Telecommunications in each year since 1997.

Stephen Timms: The numbers of staff employed by Oftel since 1997 by financial year are set out below.
	
		
			 Year Number of Staff Employed 
		
		
			 1996–1997 161 
			 1997–1998 176 
			 1998–1999 181 
			 1999–2000 195 
			 2000–2001 208 
			 2001–2002 232 
			 2002–2003 235 (estimated) 
		
	
	Oftel does not employ any inspection staff.

Regulatory Bodies

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) staff and (b) inspection staff have been employed by the Office of Fair Trading in each year since 1997.

Melanie Johnson: (a) The total number of staff employed by the Office of Fair Trading on 1 April each year since 1997 is as follows:
	1997 413
	1998 417
	1999 428
	2000 449
	2001 461
	2002 556
	2003 (January) 645
	(b) The number of inspection staff employed by the Office of Fair Trading on 1 April each year since 1997 is as follows:
	1997 0
	1998 0
	1999 0
	2000 12
	2001 12
	2002 12
	2003 (January)-15
	The term inspection staff has been taken to mean investigations staff authorised to enter premises.

Small Firms Loan Gurantee Scheme

Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many firms in Dumfries and Galloway made use of the small firms loan guarantee scheme in 2001–03; and what the total value of those loans was.

Nigel Griffiths: holding answer 4 March 2003
	Fifteen loans at a value of £486,500 have been guaranteed for small firms in Dumfries and Galloway between April 2001 and February 2003.

Special Purpose Vehicles (Offshore)

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will investigate how many UK companies trade through special purpose vehicles located in offshore financial centres.

Melanie Johnson: I have no plans to do so.

St. Charles Site, Brentwood and Ongar

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the future of the St Charles site in Brentwood and Ongar.

Hilary Benn: The Youth Justice Board (YJB) for England and Wales is responsible for commissioning and purchasing secure accommodation for juveniles from the Prison Service, private sector, and local authority secure children's homes, and for setting and monitoring standards.
	Planing permission was obtained last year to build a 40 bed secure training centre at the St Charles site. The project has been under review pending the final outcome of the last spending review, but I can confirm that it will go ahead. The Youth Justice Board hope to restart the bidding process in May 2003.

Tax Avoidance

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proposals she has to require companies to publish the details of tax avoidance schemes operated by them within their annual accounts.

Melanie Johnson: None.

Timber (Burma)

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the value of imports of timber from Burma was in the past two financial years; and which companies imported the timber.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	HM Customs and Excise are the Department responsible for collecting and recording statistics on the movement of goods with other countries. Information on individual importers and consignments is recorded from customs documents submitted at import but cannot be disclosed for reasons of commercial confidentiality; Exemption 13 of the Open Government Code applies. The value of timber and wood imports from Burma, which is published in Overseas Trade Statistics and is available on Customs' website (www.uktradeinfo.com), is:
	
		
			  
		
		
			 Apr 00—Mar 01 £3,434,228 
			 Apr 01—Mar 02 £3,623,984 
		
	
	The above figures include timber and processed wood products such as plywood, but exclude made-up articles of wood.

Unfair Terms

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 will affect tenancy agreements for local authority and housing association tenancies.

Melanie Johnson: The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 require that unfair terms should not be used in standard contracts made between sellers or suppliers and consumers. An unfair term will not bind the consumer. The Director General of Fair Trading has a duty to consider complaints about unfair terms and can act to prevent their continued use. The Regulations apply to residential tenancy agreements including those used by local authorities or housing associations with their tenants.

HEALTH

Air Fresheners

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research has been conducted into the impact upon (a) indoor air quality and (b) human health of the use of air fresheners; what advice has been given to the public relating to their use; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: I am not aware of any research that has been conducted specifically on the impact of air fresheners on indoor air quality. The Buildings Research Establishment national representative survey on air quality found that 41.9 per cent. of households reported using air fresheners. The dominant determinant of total volatile organic compounds in the survey was painting and decorating. Volatile organic compounds are a wide range of different organic chemicals, some of which may be released into the indoor air by the use of air fresheners. However, there are also many other potential sources of the same or similar chemicals such as building materials, furnishings, environmental tobacco smoke and other consumer products.
	The Avon longitudinal study of parents and children in Bristol has found associations between air freshener use and ear infections in infants, headache in mothers and depression in mothers. If these associations represent true effects, the mechanisms involved are not entirely clear. Further research is needed to confirm these findings.
	No advice has been given to the public on air fresheners specifically.

Abortions

Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions were carried out in England and Wales in 2002 under the provisions of the Abortion Act 1967; what the commonest medical conditions were for which they were performed; what checks his Department carried out to determine the suitability of the medical conditions given; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: Information for 2002 will not be available until later this year.
	In 2001, 186,274 abortions were performed in England and Wales, of which 176,364 were on resident women. 97 per cent. were performed under Section l(la) of the Abortion Act 1967, as amended—that the pregnancy has not exceeded its twenty-fourth week and that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman — and the most common medical conditions reported were mental and behavioural disorders.
	Under Section 2(2) of the Act, registered medical practitioners must notify the Chief Medical Officer of every completed termination of pregnancy they perform. The notification form contains detailed information relating to the procedure, including the doctors who certified there were grounds under the Act, gestation, method used and place of termination. Every form is checked and monitored by Departmental officials to ensure that the abortion was performed within the provisions of the Act.

Abortions

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 3 February 2003, Official Report, column 100W, on abortions, if he will provide a breakdown of the figures by age of mother; and how many of the abortions in the answer were undertaken in private clinics in (a) Hampshire and (b) the Isle of Wight.

Hazel Blears: The information requested is shown in the table. None of the abortions were undertaken in private clinics in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
	
		NHS funded abortions for Isle of Wight residents, 1997–2001 by age of woman
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 
		
		
			 Under 15 3 1 0 3 0 
			 15 1 3 3 8 5 
			 16 12 9 11 11 9 
			 17 12 14 11 14 23 
			 18 18 17 8 10 18 
			 19 8 13 14 19 19 
			 20–24 44 31 36 32 62 
			 25–29 27 30 32 45 33 
			 30–34 21 43 24 24 27 
			 35–39 26 22 18 16 24 
			 40–44 9 8 9 12 6 
			 45 and over 0 3 0 1 1 
			 Total 181 194 166 195 227 
		
	
	Note:
	Prepared by Statistics Division 3G, Department of Health.

Acute Trusts (Funding)

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total cash income from (a) non-recurring and (b) recurring finance provided by his Department and primary care trusts to each NHS acute trust in each of the past three years.

David Lammy: Information on the total income for each national health service trust provided by the Department of Health has been placed in the Library. Almost all the income is received from commissioners rather than directly from the Department. The Department does not identify income as non-recurring or recurring. The variations year-on-year indicate increasing income in most cases, however with the establishment of primary care trusts some services may transfer from continuing NHS trusts resulting in a fall in income.

Audiology Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the waiting times are for audiology services in each hospital trust.

Jacqui Smith: Information on waiting times is published quarterly on the Department's website. The information can be accessed at http://www.doh.qov.uk/waitinqtimes/index.htm

Care (Elderly People)

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action the Government is taking to ensure elderly people are being given the free care to which they are entitled; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The Department issued guidance on continuing care in June 2001 and this included information on the agreement of eligibility criteria for National Health Service continuing care criteria. Strategic health authorities are currently ensuring that a single set of valid criteria applies across their areas and that everyone is assessed against these.
	Since 1 October 2001, the NHS has also been responsible for funding the nursing care of self funding residents of care homes providing nursing care.

Tobacco Sponsorship

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what his policy is towards the sponsorship of darts championships by tobacco companies; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what measures the Government is taking to assist the British Darts Organisation to find alternative sources of sponsorship;
	(3)  if the Government will extend the transitional arrangements for the sponsorship by tobacco companies to cover the World Professional Darts Championship; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 13 February 2003
	The Government has looked very carefully at how best to achieve an end to tobacco advertising and promotion including the prohibition of tobacco sponsorship, where the purpose or effect is to promote a tobacco product, whilst at the same time considering those who currently hold tobacco sponsorship agreements. A phased approach has been adopted to the introduction of the prohibition.
	All new sponsorship agreements where the purpose or effect is to promote a tobacco product will be prohibited from 14 February 2003. Existing agreements which were in place on 11 July 2001 or have been renewed since then will have until either 30 July 2003 or until 31 July 2005 before being prohibited, so long as they meet criteria specified in The Tobacco Advertising and Promotion (Sponsorship) Transitional Regulations 2003. One of the criteria for qualifying for the 31 July 2005 extension is that tobacco sponsorship agreements need to have been to the value of £2.5 million in the 12 months ending 11 July 2001. The regulations were drawn up following a public consultation which ended on 15 November 2002. The British Darts Organisation responded to that consultation.
	The Government does not intend to amend the regulations relating to tobacco sponsorship, and in particular exceptional global events, but does want to work with those sports that do not qualify for the 2005 extension to seek alternative sources of funding.
	The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has recently met representatives from the English Pool Association and World Snooker Ltd. to discuss the progress those sports have made in their efforts to find alternative sponsorship. DCMS will remain available to meet other individual sports to provide advice and discuss any concerns they may have during the transition away from tobacco sponsorship.

Domestic Violence

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to (a) raise awareness of domestic violence in the health profession and (b) provide health services and counselling for victims of domestic violence.

Hazel Blears: The Department of Health published Domestic Violence: A Resource Manual for Health Care Professionals in March 2000. The resource manual provides a solid foundation for local multi-agency work and supports health care professionals and managers in developing their domestic violence policies, protocols and services to ensure victims receive the support they need. The Department is providing funding under the Section 64 Scheme to the Women's Aid Federation of England (WAFE) for their health and domestic violence project to help implement the resource manual in the national health service. As part of this project, WAFE has also published a directory of new health and domestic violence initiatives and undertaken a range of activities to raise awareness of domestic violence among health professionals.
	The Government remains absolutely committed to tackling domestic violence, a serious and abhorrent crime and has set up a Ministerial Group working across Government to provide co-ordinated and concerted action on this issue at the highest level. One of the key areas of the Group's work is to develop early and effective health care interventions. As 30 per cent. 1 of domestic violence is known to start in pregnancy and existing abuse often escalates at that time, the initial focus for this work is in maternity care. The Department of Health is funding an innovative study at the University of the West of England and North Bristol NHS Trust to pilot routine ante-natal questioning about domestic violence. Outcomes from the Bristol pilot will inform the future provision of NHS maternity services.
	1 Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths in the United Kingdom 1997–99

Drugs

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the drugs helpline advertised on the new style cards is (a) confidential and (b) available 24 hours a day.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 28 February 2003
	The National Drugs Helpline is a confidential service that operates 24 hours a day.

Elvy Court Nursing Home

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he will take on Southern Cross Healthcare's retention of the NHS funded nursing care element from fees paid by residents at Elvy Court Nursing Home, Sittingbourne.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 3 March 2003
	I understand that local inspectors of the National Care Standards Commission home are currently investigating this issue at Elvy Court. I await the outcome of the investigation with interest.

Elvy Court Nursing Home

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the West Kent National Care Standards Commission's report on Elvy Court Nursing Home, Sittingbourne will be published.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 3 March 2003
	Publication of the Elvy Court Nursing Home inspection report is scheduled for 14 April.

Corticosteroid Therapy

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department is giving to doctors following the recent Royal College of Physicians research into glucocorticoids.

Hazel Blears: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence is currently consulting on the draft scope of a clinical guideline on the prevention, assessment and treatment of osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures, which will cover osteoporosis of all origins, including men and women on long-term corticosteroid therapy. The guidance is due to be published in 2005.
	The Royal College of Physicians is one of the invited consultees for both the appraisal and guideline. They will be consulted throughout the guideline development process, and will have the opportunity to submit evidence and comment on each draft of the guidance.

Health Care (East Riding)

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many job vacancies in the (a) Hull and East Riding Hospitals Trust, (b) Hull and East Riding Community Health Trust, (c) West Hull Primary Care Trust and (d) East Yorkshire Primary Care Trust there were in each year since 1997, broken down by job type; and how many of these vacancies were filled.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Health Protection Agency

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to announce the funding allocation for the Health Protection Agency.

Hazel Blears: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State has confirmed the overall funding envelope for the Health Protection Agency, the Public Health Laboratory Service and the central support for microbiological diagnostic work, carried out by those laboratories transferring to national health service trust management. The total sum (in round numbers) in £104 million revenue and £10 million capital.

Paediatric Continence Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has conducted an audit of paediatric continence services in the United Kingdom.

Jacqui Smith: No. The provision of these services in England is a matter for primary care trusts, which are responsible for determining the level of services required to meet the needs of their local population. Common childhood conditions, including enuresis and paediatric continence, will be considered under the forthcoming national service framework for children, young people and maternity services, which is currently developing national standards.

Hospital Waiting Lists

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in England have been waiting (a) up to 12, (b) between 12 and 15 and (c) between 15 and 18 months for in-patient treatment in each of the last 12 months.

John Hutton: The table shows the number of patients awaiting elective inpatient admission by the time-bands requested.
	
		Patients waiting for elective admission: position at month end (responsible population based) 
		
			  Patients waiting for admission by months waiting 
			 Month Less than12 months 12–14 months 15–17 months 
		
		
			 January 2002 1,014,841 26,400 3,156 
			 February 2002 1,010,704 23,873 1,942 
			 March 2002 999,735 21,645 224 
			 June 2002 1,016,516 20,425 23 
			 July 2002 1,019,403 18,899 12 
			 August 2002 1,021,189 18,202 10 
			 September 2002 1,014,355 16,669 14 
			 October 2002 1,016,895 15,490 9 
			 November 2002 1,012,623 12,509 6 
			 December 2002 1,027,564 10,897 5 
		
	
	Note:Data for April and May 2002 was not published due to data quality issues post Shifting the Balance of Power.Source:
	Department of Health form QF01 and monthly monitoring

Hospital Waiting Lists

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in Greater London have been waiting (a) up to six months, (b) between six and 12 months, (c) between 12 and 15 months and (d) between 15 and 18 months for hospital treatment in each month since October 2001.

John Hutton: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Patients waiting for elective admission within London DHSC area: -- Position at month end (responsible population based)Patients waiting for admission by months waiting
		
			 Month Less than6 months 6–11 months 12–14 months 15–17 months 
		
		
			  
			  
			  0–6 6–12 12–15 15–18 
			 October 2001 98,224 30,077 5,948 1,693 
			 November 2001 99,522 29,220 5,306 772 
			 December 2001 100,508 31,906 5,124 733 
			 January 2002 100,896 32,660 4,700 484 
			 February 2002 103,218 31,431 4,523 252 
			 March 2002 103,720 31,045 4,403 0 
			 June 2002 105,236 31,674 4,288 0 
			 July 2002 106,274 31,028 3,774 1 
			 August 2002 105,497 32,081 3,683 0 
			 September 2002 105,208 32,129 3,411 2 
			 October 2002 105,034 31,356 3,195 7 
			 November 2002 106,214 29,106 2,447 5 
			 December 2002 107,602 30,012 2,054 3 
		
	
	Note:Data for April and May 2002 was not published due to data quality issues post Shifting the Balance of Power.Source:
	Department of Health form QF01 and monthly monitoring

Neurology Services

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on (a) medical, (b) social and (c) applied research into (i) causes, (ii) treatment and (iii) management of neurological conditions in the last year for which figures are available.

Jacqui Smith: The main Government agency for research into the causes of and treatments for disease is the Medical Research Council (MRC) which receives its funding via the Department of Trade and Industry. The MRC spent an estimated £24.6 million in 2001–02 on its neurological disorders portfolio; this covers all the areas of research referred to in the question.
	The Department of Health funds research to support policy and the delivery of effective practice in the national health service. The Department spent an estimated £2 million in 2001–02 on directly commissioned research projects on the treatment and management of neurological conditions. In addition to specific projects, the Department also provides support for research commissioned by charities and the research councils that takes place in the NHS. Management of much of the research supported by NHS research and development funding is devolved and expenditure at project level is not held centrally by the Department. The total investment is therefore considerably greater than just the spend on directly commissioned projects.

Nursing Homes

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the national ratio is of care workers to residents in state nursing homes.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not available because it is not collected centrally: much of the provision of care homes providing nursing is commissioned by local authorities from the private sector. The National Care Standards Commission (NCSC) does not collect information about the numbers of care workers or nurses in care homes providing nursing. Rather, it inspects staffing levels to see that they are appropriate at all times to the assessed needs of service users, the size, layout and purpose of the home. The NCSC will make information available later in the year to the public and Government about registered services.

Elderly People

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what he estimates to be the cost of (a) all injuries as a result of a fall, (b) hip fractures and (c) osteoporosis to the national health service in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Jacqui Smith: Standard Six of the national service framework for older people estimated that hip fractures cost the national health service in England around £1.7 billion per year. No estimate has been made of the cost to the NHS of all injuries resulting from a fall, or the cost of osteoporosis.

Elderly People

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much is spent on the funding of falls co-ordinator posts in 2002–3.

Hazel Blears: The information requested is not available centrally.

Elderly People

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many designated falls co-ordinators are in post in England.

Hazel Blears: The information requested is not available centrally.

Public Health Laboratory Service

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 4 February 2003, Official Report, column 226W, on PHLS laboratories, whether he will instruct PCTs to maintain funding levels to NHS laboratories beyond one year after the laboratories are subsumed into local trusts.

Hazel Blears: National health service trust boards are being encouraged to ensure that the level of funding available for routine diagnostic microbiology services from 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2005 is not less than contracted with the Public Health Laboratory Service during 2002–03.
	For the same period, the proposed Health Protection Agency (HPA) will ensure that the level of funding to HPA laboratories for specialist services they provide and which they commission from transferred laboratories are at least at the same level as for 2002–03.

Smoking Cessation Services

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government have for the expansion of smoking cessation services.

Hazel Blears: We have plans for a substantial expansion in National Health Service smoking cessation services, and have allocated £138 million to the NHS over the three years from April 2003 for this purpose.
	We have set the NHS a target of 800,000 smokers to have quit at the four week follow-up stage between 2003 and 2006. We have also set a target to reduce by one percentage point a year the smoking prevalence rate for women who continue to smoke throughout pregnancy and a target to update practice based registers so that patients with coronary heart disease continue to receive appropriate advice and treatment.

Social Services

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which statements he has made concerning social services where service developments and extra spending are to be met from the 6 per cent. real terms increase in the personal social services spending.

Jacqui Smith: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made a number of general statements referring to service improvements that should be possible with the 6 per cent. annual average real terms increase for personal social services for each of the next three years, 2003–04 to 2005–06. It is of course for local councils to decide on their relative spending priorities taking account of local needs and priorities.

Social Services

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received from overseas governments regarding the recruitment of social workers.

Jacqui Smith: The Department has not received representations from overseas governments regarding the recruitment of social workers. Local authorities are responsible for managing their own recruitment policies and practices, whether recruiting in this country or from overseas.

Social Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with local authority leaders regarding the recruitment of social workers (a) in general and (b) from abroad.

Jacqui Smith: The Department is working closely with local authorities to reduce vacancies across the social care workforce and has committed funding of £1.5 million to the national social work recruitment campaign, which aims to increase the number of applications to social work. We have worked closely with key stakeholders to develop a resource pack to provide material which can be used by authorities for their own recruitment initiatives. Local authorities are responsible for managing their own recruitment from abroad.

Social Services

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to provide opportunities for home care workers and health care assistants to train to become (a) social workers and (b) nurses; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: At the Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS) conference in October 2000, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, announced funding for a three year student support scheme for those studying for first level professional social work qualifications.
	The funds for this scheme were put into a ring-fenced sub-programme of the training support programme (TSP) grant and local councils have been invited to apply for funds to support both their own experienced care staff and those staff of voluntary and private organisations that are contracted to provide social services, who wished to undertake the Diploma in Social Work (DipSW). For the coming year these funds may also be used to support staff who wish to undertake programmes for the new social work degree, which commences in September 2003.
	The funds available in this TSP sub-programme are shown in the table.
	
		
			 Year Amount (£ million) 
		
		
			 2001–02 3  
			 2002–03 13 
			 2003–04 13 
		
	
	A new social care training grant, the national training strategy grant, starts in April 2003. The conditions surrounding the use of this grant will be out for consultation by the end of March. There is £6 million ring-fenced within this new grant for a trainee social worker scheme which is to be used to support social care workers who wish to undertake either the DipSW or the new social work degree. Although this grant is to be paid to local councils, it has been suggested that 50 per cent. of the amount that is allocated to each local council is offered to those voluntary and private organisations that are contracted to councils to provide services. This will include organisations providing home care.
	Health care assistants have been able to prepare for nurse training through a cadet scheme or by undertaking a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) at level 3. The Department is taking forward a number of steps to support and facilitate the expansion and coverage of cadet schemes. We are also nearing the end of the second year of an ongoing major investment programme, £60 million in 2002–03, to enable health staff without work related professional qualifications access a national health service learning account or dedicated NVQ training. Between April 2001 and September 2002, over 21,000 undertook NVQ training to levels 2 or 3.
	Additionally, we are aiming to increase health care assistant secondments to nurse training from 15 per cent. of the overall national training population in 2003–04 to 24 per cent. of the population in 2005–06. This approach to nurse training has proved to be very popular and there are now some 2,300 new health care assistants and other NHS employees supported each year under the initiative.

Social Services

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the level of vacancies is for social workers in (a) elderly care, (b) children care and (c) mental health in (i) London, broken down by borough and (ii) England.

Jacqui Smith: We do not hold information centrally on social worker vacancies in each local authority or London borough. A survey undertaken by the Employers Organisation found that across all local authority social services in England as at 30 September 2001, around 10 per cent. of all field social worker posts were vacant.

TB

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people received immunisation against TB in (a) the last year for which figures are available, (b) the previous 12 months and (c) 1996.

Hazel Blears: Information about the number of people receiving BCG vaccinations against tuberculosis is contained in tables 4 and 5 of the Statistical Bulletin NHS Immunisation Statistics, England: 2001–02. A copy of the bulletin is available in the Library. It can also be found on the Department's website at www.doh.gov.uk/public/sb0218.htm

WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefit Fraud

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many successful home visits to claimants were made by local authority benefit fraud officers in each of the last three years.

Malcolm Wicks: Over the last three years, we estimate Local Authorities made around 170,000 visits every year.
	The estimate does not include returns from all Local Authorities.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Dysphasia

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the prevalence and management of dysphasia in Northern Ireland.

Des Browne: The prevalence of dysphasia is not held by Departmental recording systems. The management of dysphasia is largely based around speech therapy and improving communication. There is a wide range of causes of dysphasia including head injury, stroke, learning disabilities, cancer etc. and supportive management of communication difficulties may be only one aspect of the treatment required.

Energy Efficiency Grants

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what energy efficiency grants are available to agricultural projects in Northern Ireland for (a) farmers and (b) processors.

Ian Pearson: The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) is implementing Measure 1.9 of the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation. This measure may assist farmers, working in groups, to implement solutions to specific environmental problems. The assistance available is in the form of a grant to implement remedial actions on individual holdings. Such actions could improve energy efficiency on farms.
	Also DARD's Rural Development Programme (2001/2006) is broad based and there may be scope for individual farmers, farmers groups, collectives and co- operatives to bring forward proposals for consideration. The scope for funding an energy efficiency project or programme will depend on the nature of the proposal. All projects or programmes will be economically appraised and must meet the appropriate Programme/measure criteria.

Community Fund (Belfast)

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what criteria will be applied to the spending of the money which the Prime Minister recently allocated for interface areas of Belfast.

Des Browne: On 12 February 2003 I announced the establishment of a new Local Community Fund with an initial budget of £3 million per year. The overall aim of the Fund will be to bolster communities that feel they have been left behind by the political process whether in Belfast or beyond. No decisions have yet been made on the areas to be targeted by the Fund nor on mechanisms for delivery. Work in ongoing on these issues and an announcement will be made in the near future.

Physiotherapists

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland why the advertised vacancy for a physiotherapist in Loane house, South Tyrone hospital is for a temporary full-time position; and what funding will be made available to recruit a permanent full-time physiotherapist.

Des Browne: A full-time physiotherapist post in Loane house has been advertised on the basis of a temporary contract because this is an additional post to the complement that existed following the transfer of services from the South Tyrone site. The Trust is currently undertaking a review of its physiotherapy workload, which will determine the longer-term need for the post and, therefore, the funding requirements.

Physiotherapists

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland at what locations in the Southern Health and Social Services Board area physiotherapy treatment is available; and how many physiotherapists are based at each location.

Des Browne: Details of the locations at which physiotherapy treatment is available in the Southern Health and Social Services Board area, together with the number of whole-time equivalent staff based at each of these locations at 31 December 2002, are shown in the following table.
	
		Number of physiotherapy staff by location, SHSSB area, 31 December 2002
		
			 Location Staffing levels(31) 
		
		
			 Armagh Community Hospital 2.90 
			 South Tyrone Hospital 4.49 
			 Fivemiletown Health Centre 0.10 
			 Willowbank Surgery, Keady 0.10 
			 Armagh and Dungannon Trust 7.59 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital—General Outpatients 2.90 
			 Lurgan Hospital—General Out-patients 4.49 
			 Craigavon and Banbridge Community Trust 7.39 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital—General Outpatients 4.60 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital—A & E Clinic 1.20 
			 Lurgan Hospital—General Outpatients 3.00 
			 Banbridge Polyclinic—General Outpatients 2.00 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group Trust 10.80 
			 Daisy Hill Hospital—General Out-patients 5.00 
			 Health Centres 1.60 
			 Newry and Mourne Trust 6.60 
			 SHSSB Area 32.38 
		
	
	(31) Whole-time equivalent
	Notes:
	1. The locations shown in the table are those in which physiotherapy out-patient activity is carried out. Staffing levels are expressed as whole-time equivalents, as this method reflects the activity of the staff based at the relevant locations.
	2. The services at Craigavon Area hospital and Lurgan hospital sites are provided by physiotherapists from Craigavon and Banbridge Community and Craigavon Area Hospital Trusts, who both use the same sites.
	3. Health centres included in Newry and Mourne Trust figures are: Rathfriland, Newtownhamilton, Crossmaglen, Warrenpoint and Mourne Hospital.

Physiotherapists

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many physiotherapy outpatients were treated each week for the last three months, broken down by location, in the Southern Health and Social Services Board area.

Des Browne: The number of physiotherapy attendances during the quarter ending 31 December 2002 (the latest three-month period for which such information is available), in the Southern Health and Social Services Board area, is shown according to location in the following table.
	
		Number of physiotherapy attendances, SHSSB area, quarter ending 31 December 2002
		
			 Location Average weekly attendances Total quarterly attendances 
		
		
			 Armagh Community Hospital 200 2,598 
			 South Tyrone Hospital 168 2,190 
			 Fivemiletown Health Centre 4 56 
			 Willowbank Surgery, Keady 7 97 
			 Armagh and Dungannon Trust 379 4,941 
			
			 Craigavon Area Hospital—General Outpatients 8 103 
			 Lurgan Hospital—General Outpatients 13 166 
			 Craigavon and Banbridge Community Trust 21 269 
			
			 Craigavon Area Hospital—General Outpatients 150 1,948 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital—A&E Clinic 52 680 
			 Lurgan Hospital—General Outpatients 104 1,350 
			 Banbridge Polyclinic—General Outpatients 51 669 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group Trust 357 4,647 
			
			 Daisy Hill Hospital—General Outpatients 323 4,204 
			 Health Centres 35 461 
			 Newry and Mourne Trust 358 4,665 
			 SHSSB Area 1,115 14,522 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The data in the above table refer to outpatient attendances rather than to the number of individual outpatients. It is possible for a person to attend as an outpatient more than once in each week or each quarter.
	2. It is not possible to provide information on attendances for each week of the relevant quarter, as for many locations only a quarterly total is available. However, it is possible to provide average weekly attendances for each location, and these are shown in the table.
	3. The services at Craigavon Area Hospital and Lurgan Hospital sites are provided by physiotherapists from Craigavon and Banbridge Community and Craigavon Area Hospital Trusts, who both use the same sites.
	4. Health centres included in Newry and Mourne Trust figures are: Rathfriland, Newtownhamilton, Crossmaglen, Warrenpoint and Mourne Hospital.

Textile Industry

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress is being made in implementing the Kurt/Salmon report into the textile industry in Northern Ireland.

Ian Pearson: The Kurt Salmon report includes a series of recommendations, the majority of which are for the industry itself to implement. Since the textile industry's endorsement of this Strategy, in 2000, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (through Invest NI) has implemented a comprehensive programme of support in line with its key recommendations. This support has included financial assistance for companies implementing these recommendations and the establishment of Catalyst, an industry grouping whose role is to provide the strategic focus, dynamic leadership and expertise to the sector. In addition, Invest NI has provided support in the areas of innovation, training, and product and trade development. A customised package of support has also been implemented on targeted sector initiatives and supporting industry trade associations to assist in the delivery of the strategy. Initiatives to date include Irish Linen plus Lycra, the Brand to Win programme, and the recent Medical Textiles conference held in Belfast's Odyssey Arena.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

NHS (Fraud)

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Solicitor General what progress has been made in the investigation of suspected fraud in the National Health Service announced by the Serious Fraud Office on 10th April 2002.

Harriet Harman: The investigation concerns an allegation of a suspected price fixing cartel among those supplying prescribed penicillin based antibiotics and Warfarin to the National Health Service.
	A large volume of paper documents and electronic material was seized in searches conducted in April 2002 at 28 addresses in England, Wales and Scotland.
	The search involved over 150 officers drawn from the Metropolitan Police Fraud Squad, the Strathclyde Police and the National Crime Squad. Lawyers, accountants and forensic computer specialists from the SFO, other government departments, provincial police forces and private sector agencies, supported the Police.
	The Director of the SFT assures me that good progress is being made and that the investigation is progressing.

Paul Skuse

Tony Baldry: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will make a statement on the Attorney-General's decision not to refer the case of Paul Skuse to the Court of Appeal.

Harriet Harman: holding answer 11 February 2003
	The Attorney-General decided, after very careful consideration of this sensitive and unusual case, not to pursue his application to the Court of Appeal as an unduly lenient sentence.
	The Attorney wrote to the hon. Member to set out his reason on 23 January 2003 as he believes the sentence passed — two and a half years imprisonment plus an extended licence period of two and a half years — was not unduly lenient in this very unusual case, and taking all matters into account was of the view that the Court of Appeal would not increase the sentence.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the funds delivered to Afghanistan in 2002 for aid and reconstruction by the (a) USA, (b) EU, (c) UK and (d) Japan, and the total funds promised to that country in the Tokyo agreements.

Clare Short: At the international donor conference in Tokyo in January 2002 donors made pledged covering 1–5 years, totalling $4.5 billion for humanitarian and reconstruction assistance in Afghanistan. The total estimate for money disbursed in 2002 is $1.8 billion. The Afghan Assistance Co-ordination Authority (AACA) records show that Afghanistan received the following amounts of support in 2002 from: (a) USA, $602,167,421; (b) European Union (all member states), $452,820,329; (c) UK, $58,685,499; and (d) Japan, $142,698,441. However the UK actually disbursed $135,494,011 in 2002 and we believe that the AACA figures for the other donors are also underestimates.

Hospitality

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her Department's hospitality budget (a) is in 2002–03 and (b) was in each of the last three years; and how much was left unspent at the end of each financial year.

Clare Short: My Department does not have a hospitality budget as such. Actual expenditure by DFID on official entertainment in the last three financial years was as follows:
	1999–00 £62,000
	2000–01 £48,000
	2001–02 £55,000
	We estimate we will spend some £74,000 on entertainment in 2002–03.
	All expenditure on official entertainment is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on the principles set out in "Government Accounting".

Iraq

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian consequences of a war with Iraq; and if she will make a statement.

Clare Short: Most Iraqi people are very vulnerable to humanitarian crisis. The majority of Iraqi's live in urban areas, with a dependence on water, sanitation and food distribution systems which could be disrupted in the event of military action. People's private coping strategies have been worn away by years of misrule. There is also the very worrying danger that Saddam might use chemical or biological weapons causing injuries to civilians, and that any conflict might lead to large population movements creating enormous humanitarian needs. My Department is in regular discussion with the Ministry of Defence, the UN, Governments and humanitarian actors about minimising the humanitarian risks of any conflict to the Iraqi people, and responding to any crises which might arise.

EU Sugar Market

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which countries within the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group will continue to have preferential access to the EU sugar market when the Everything But Arms countries have completed transition to free access.

Clare Short: All those members of the ACP group that are least developed countries (LDC) will benefit from continued preferential access to the EU sugar market, since they are also eligible for EBA preferences. These countries are as follows: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Vanuatu and Zambia. For non-LDC members of the ACP, it is not possible at present to indicate whether they will have continued preferential access to the EU sugar market from 2009 since this depends on the provisions for sugar in the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) which are due to replace the Cotonou Agreement in 2008. Negotiations on EPAs have only just started but the UK is pushing for all ACP countries, not just LDCs, to benefit from duty and quota free access to the EU from 2008. EPA provisions on sugar will in turn be affected by the way the EU sugar regime is reformed.

EU Sugar Market

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much sugar entered the EU from the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries under the Cotonou agreement in the last 12 months.

Clare Short: In the period June 2001 to July 2002, 1.51 million tonnes of sugar were imported into the EU, from ACP countries and India, under the EU Sugar Protocol and the Special Preferential Sugar import arrangements.

EU Sugar Market

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate she has made of the potential impact of production of sugar by Brazil on the economies of the African, Caribbean and Pacific and Everything But Arms countries if a global free market in sugar were to be established.

Clare Short: Winners from a free world sugar market are likely to be low-cost producers with the ability to compete on an open market, whereas the high-cost (thus less efficient) producers are likely to lose, unless their industries are restructured.
	Brazil is estimated to be the lowest cost producer in the world and has the potential to respond very quickly to increased demand and supply large quantities of sugar at around the current world price. It is hard to predict what the situation would be like under complete liberalisation, although it is expected that Brazil will absorb a large share of the world market, as will Australia. However, among the ten lowest cost producers in the world (1993–98) are also Zimbabwe (before Australia), Zambia, Malawi and Swaziland who are therefore also potential winners.
	Some ACP countries like Swaziland are low cost producers and therefore likely to benefit from further liberalisation. Also efficient ACP LDCs, like Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique stand to gain. For ACP countries like Jamaica and Madagascar who are high cost producers and heavily dependent on the preferential access granted by the EU, the sugar industry might need some restructuring to be able to compete.

EU Sugar Market

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate she has made of the total sugar production of the Everything But Arms countries (a) at present and (b) at the end of the transition period to free access to the EU.

Clare Short: Figures from the Statistical Bulletins of the International Sugar Organisation (January 2003) report a total production of sugar from EBA countries of 1.15million tonnes in 2001. No estimate has been made of possible future production levels for these countries.

SCOTLAND

Departmental Works of Art

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what her estimate is of the total value of art and antiques (a) possessed by and (b) used by the Scottish Office; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Liddell: A comprehensive estimate of the value of the art, furniture and other antique items on display in the buildings used by the Scotland Office is not available. The majority of such items are on loan from other sources.

External Consultants

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much (a) her Department and (b) each agency and non-departmental public body spent on external consultancy in each year from 1995–96 to 2002–03 (planned); and if she will make a statement.

Helen Liddell: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999.
	Since then, expenditure on external consultancy has been as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 1999–2000 0 
			 2000–01 5,465 
			 2001–02 17,864 
			 2002–03 (Estimated) 6,100

Gaelic Language

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much the Government provided to support the production of television programmes in the Gaelic language in (a) 1997 and (b) 2002.

Helen Liddell: Expenditure on this matter is for the Scottish Executive.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland 
	(1)  whether she has issued guidelines to local authorities in Scotland on the introduction of facilities for the provision of retail and fleet liquefied petroleum gas;
	(2)  whether she has issued guidelines to local authorities in Scotland on the introduction of facilities for the provision of compressed natural gas.

Helen Liddell: Facilities for the provision of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), like all hydrocarbon fuels, are licensed by local petroleum authorities (LPAs) under the Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 1928.
	The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) together constitute the Competent Authority (CA) that enforces the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (Scotland) 2000 which apply to such facilities. Those facilities are also subject to the land-use planning system administered by local planning authorities subject to guidance issued by the Scottish Executive.

Scotland Office

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) special advisers, (b) press officers, (c) senior management, (d) ministerial private offices, (e) information divisions and (f) policy divisions there have been in the Scotland Office in each year from 1999–2000 to 2002–03, giving the total cost of each for each year; and if she will make a statement.

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) special advisers and (b) press officers have been employed by her Department in each year from 1994–95 to 2002–03; and at what cost in each year.

Helen Liddell: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999.
	Details of the number and costs of Special Advisers were given in the reply from my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office on 31 January 2003, Official Report, column 1056W.
	The number of Press Officers employed by my Department from 1999–2000 to 2001–02 and their costs in each of these years are as follows:
	
		
			  Numbers of Press Officers in January of each year Cost  
		
		
			 1999–2000 4 (32)44,078.16 
			 2000–01 4 139,705.16 
			 2001–02 4 134,702.43 
		
	
	(32) Part year cost
	Mrs. Liddell: My Department, which includes the Office of the Advocate General for Scotland, has two special advisers, nine senior civil servants, three ministerial private offices, three policy divisions and one information division, which includes four press officers.
	Individual costs are not available in the form requested; but the details of administrative expenditure can be found in the Departmental Report and Resource Accounts for the Scotland Office.

Sickness Absence

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the rate of staff (a) absenteeism and (b) sickness was in her Department in each year from 1990–91 to 2002–03; what the target set is for her Department; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Liddell: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999.
	Details of staff absenteeism are given in the following table:
	
		
			 Dates Working days lost due to sickness 
		
		
			 1 July 1999 to 31 March 2000 396 
			 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2001 662.5 
			 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002 601.5 
			 1 April 2002 to 30 November 2002 479 
		
	
	My Department is committed to reducing the levels of sick absence and has recently introduced a new management attendance procedure. Absence will continue to be monitored closely but no targets have yet been set.

LORD CHANCELLOR

Northern Ireland Court Service

David Laws: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what reasons underlie the change in spending by the Northern Ireland Court Service between 1998–99 to 2003–04; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The following table reflects the net resource outturn, both actual and estimated, for the Northern Ireland Court Service for the period from 1998 to 2004.
	
		
			  Net resource outturn 
		
		
			 Appropriation account  
			 1998–99 42,924.00 
			 Resource account  
			 1999–2000 63,160.00 
			 2000–01 70,749.00 
			 2001–02 80,369.00 
			 Estimate  
			 2002–03 97,764.00 
			 Planned  
			 2003–04 94,540.00 
		
	
	The Northern Ireland Court Service has increased spending over the past number of years in order to deliver a substantial increase in customer service.
	1. Expenditure on Legal Aid, which is designed to ensure that all sections of the community have access to justice, is demand led and has increased by 59 per cent. over this period.
	2. The Northern Ireland Court Service has taken on additional responsibilities, such as the provision of security at courthouses (previously undertaken by the police), the implementation of the Northern Ireland Criminal Justice Review, and the development of reforms such as the Justice (NI) Act 2002 and the Access to Justice (NI) Order 2003.
	3. The adoption of resource accounting has led to the introduction of non-cash charges such as depreciation being added in to the cost of running the organisation, which has increased spend by in excess of £10 million.
	4. In order to develop modern systems and infrastructure to support the administration of justice and to meet Government targets on electronic delivery of services, the department entered into two PFI arrangements during the period. These arrangements saw the introduction of modern information technology and the construction of the high-tech Laganside Courts Complex in Belfast.
	5. In order to achieve these improvements in service delivery, there have been corresponding increases in staff and accommodation.

Public Records Office

David Laws: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will make an assessment of the effects of privatising the Public Records Office; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The Public Record Office was subject to a Quinquennial Review in 1997–98, which concluded that its core functions in relation to its oversight of records management in other government departments and its custody of historical public records can only be carried out from within government. Quinquennial Reviews have now been replaced by other business improvement processes in Government.
	The PRO will be joining up with the Historical Manuscripts Commission to form the National Archives on 1 April 2003, and the new organisation will strive to offer services which offer even better value for money than those provided separately by the two organisations.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Welsh Language

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what steps she is taking to (a) protect and (b) promote the Welsh language, with particular reference to broadcasting; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what her Department's plans are to protect and promote (a) the Gaelic language and (b) the Welsh language, with specific regard to broadcasting; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: holding answer 4 March 2003
	The Government's plans for Gaelic language broadcasting are contained within the Communications Bill. The Bill establishes a new Gaelic broadcasting body, the Gaelic Media Service (Seirbheis nam Maedhanan Gàidhlig) with broader powers to secure that a wide and diverse range of programmes are broadcast or otherwise transmitted for reception in Scotland. The Gaelic Media Service will build on the strengths of the existing Gaelic Broadcasting Committee (CCG), but will have a broader representative base, including the main broadcaster interests and others responsible for the development of Gaelic language and culture.
	For the Welsh language, the Government is maintaining index-linkage of the grant in aid to the Welsh fourth channel, S4C, as well as the requirement for the BBC to provide at least 10 hours a week of free programmes to the Welsh Authority. The Communications Bill will update the regulatory structure for the Authority, including a system of approvals for new public and commercial services.

Channel 4

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the effects of privatising Channel Four; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The Government considered the future of Channel Four in the context of developing its proposals for broadcasting in the Communications Bill. Channel Four's current structure as a non-profit making statutory corporation works well, and it remains a central element in the Government's vision for the broadcasting industry in the digital future. I expect Channel Four to continue to fulfil a vital role in providing diverse and innovative public service programming of high quality.

Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum

Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if the grant made to Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum through the Regional Renaissance initiative is additional to funding of the museum as a result of its status as a Designated Collection.

Kim Howells: The award received by Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum from the Designated Challenge Fund for 2002–04 is separate from the funds that will be allocated to the South West Regional Hub through the Renaissance in the Regions initiative.

Departmental Spending

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her estimate is of public spending on her Department and its predecessors in each year from 1983–84 to 2003–04 (planned); and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: Expenditure on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and its predecessor, the Department of National Heritage (which was formed in 1992) is shown in the following table. The figures exclude depreciation and cost of capital charges.
	
		£ million
		
			 Financial year Total administration expenditure 
		
		
			 1992–93 16.1 
			 1993–94 21.7 
			 1994–95 20.1 
			 1995–96 20.4 
			 1996–97 21.6 
			 1997–98 21.4 
			 1998–99 22.7 
			 19992000 27.5 
			 2000–01 30.0 
			 2001–02 30.7 
			 2002–03 (plan) 39.1 
			 2003–04 (plan) 36.0

Free Television Licences

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people aged 75 or above receive free television licences in the Tooting constituency.

Kim Howells: TV Licensing, who administer the free licence scheme as agents for the BBC, are not able to provide geographical breakdowns of the number of free licences issued. However, estimates based on the 1991 Census indicate that there were approximately 5,800 people aged 75 or over living in the Tooting constituency.

Licensing Bill

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport under the terms of her proposed Licensing Bill, what licensing arrangements would apply to (a) a village green and (b) other public open space which was used for licensable activities on more than five occasions per year.

Kim Howells: The Licensing Bill provides that premises means any place. The Bill therefore applies in relation to outdoor places and events to the same extent as it does to indoor ones, save in the case of sporting events. Under the Bill, a premises licence would therefore be required in respect of a village green or other public space which is to be used for licensable activities on more than five occasions in the same year in the same way as it would for any other premises. Part 5 of the Bill provides for permitted temporary activities which may take place on a premises on up to five occasions in a year.

Press Releases

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many press releases have been issued by her Department in each (a) year and (b) quarter from 1995–96 to 2002–03; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The number of press releases issued by the Department for Culture Media and Sport in each year from 1995–96 to 2002–03 is as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1995–96 299 
			 1996–97 414 
			 1997–98 315 
			 1998–99 338 
			 1999–2000 294 
			 2000–01 370 
			 2001–02 227 
			 2002 to date (25 February 2003) 185 
		
	
	Quarterly figures for the past seven years could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.

Smoking in the Workplace

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what policy her Department has adopted on smoking in the workplace.

Kim Howells: Following consultation with the staff a smoking room was designated in each building. Smoking is not allowed anywhere else in departmental buildings.

Special Advisers and Press Officers

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) special advisers and (b) press officers have been employed by her Department in each year from 1994–95 to 2002–03; and at what cost in each year.

Kim Howells: The number of press officers employed by DCMS in each year from 1997–98 to 2002–03 (at 1 April in each year) and their remuneration is as follows.
	
		
			 Date Number Remuneration (£) 
		
		
			 1997 8 227,207 
			 1998 (33)9 207,619 
			 1999 8 236,150 
			 2000 9 245,039 
			 2001 8 265,631 
			 2002 10 275,177 
		
	
	(33) Includes two staff working part-time.
	Financial and Human Resource information for periods prior to, and including 1996–97 is not held on the Department's databases and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	With regard to the number of Special Advisers employed by DCMS in each year from 1994–95 to 2002–03 I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office on 31 January 2003, Official Report, columns 1056–57W.

Supermarkets

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport under what circumstances supermarkets selling alcohol may also sell motor transport fuel from the same business site.

Kim Howells: Section 9 of the Licensing Act 1964 sets out circumstances in which persons and premises are disqualified from holding or receiving justices' licences for the sale of alcohol. It includes provision that "premises shall be disqualified for receiving a justices' licence if they are primarily used as a garage or form part of premises which are primarily so used". It further provides that "the reference to use as a garage is a reference to use for any or more of one of the following purposes, namely, the retailing of petrol or derv or the sale or maintenance of motor vehicles".

Television Subtitling

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what action she plans to take to provide information to those who would benefit from television subtitles about (a) their existence and (b) how to gain access to them.

Kim Howells: The Communications Bill gives OFCOM a duty to draw up a code relating to the provision of television services for the deaf and visually impaired. This will give guidance as to the means by which the understanding and enjoyment of the services by the deaf or hard of hearing should be promoted and might include guidance to broadcasters on the provision of information about subtitles. It is in the broadcasters own interests to actively promote the availability of the services they are providing.

TV Licensing Agency

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff were employed by the TV Licensing Agency in each year since 1997.

Kim Howells: The information requested is not held centrally. The BBC has statutory responsibility for the administration of the television licensing system but the day to day administration is contracted out to several organisations, operating jointly as TV Licensing. The number of staff employed by each of those contractors to fulfil the terms of their contracts is a matter for them.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Advanced Skills Teachers

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what changes in funding will take place from April for advanced skills teachers to share their expertise in neighbouring schools.

David Miliband: Funding for Advanced Skills Teachers (ASTs) in 2003–04 will be based on the same principles as now, but with additional funding available to allow for the planned expansion of the AST grade. Funding is provided to LEAs at an average of £14,500 per post of which £5,700 is for the outreach costs. The additional costs of AST posts are met through a broadly even mix of DfES funding through the Standards Fund (SF) and matching funding by the LEA. The amount currently available to LEAs in 2002–03 is £38.9 million of which the departmental contribution is £20.2 million. For 2003–04, the overall SF allocation to support ASTs is £66.4 million of which the DfES share is £33.2 million.
	In addition to the matched funded grant we have made £17.7 million available in 2002–03 to support AST posts without a matching LEA contribution to work on specific Government priorities. There will be no new posts funded under these special schemes in 2003–04, although the match-funded grant allocations for 2003–04 include funding to enable LEAs to provide continuing support for existing posts when funding at the 100 per cent. grant rate finishes.

Examination Results

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of pupils obtained A*-C grades in all three core subjects in (a) wholly comprehensive local authority areas and (b) wholly selective local authority areas, in each of the last five years.

David Miliband: holding answer 20 January 2003
	Within wholly comprehensive LEAs the following percentages of pupils achieved GCSE grades A*-C in all of the three core subjects of English, Mathematics and Science.
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 2002 38 
			 2001 34 
			 2000(34) 33 
			 1999 32 
			 1998 30 
		
	
	Within the LEAs deemed wholly selective for grammar school ballots purposes the following percentages of pupils achieved GCSE grades A*-C in all of the three core subjects of English, Mathematics and Science.
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 2002 43 
			 2001 42 
			 2000(34) 42 
			 1999 40 
			 1998 39 
		
	
	The following percentages of pupils in all schools in England achieved GCSE grades A*-C in all of the three core subjects of English, Mathematics and Science.
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 2002 39 
			 2001 38 
			 2000(34) 37 
			 1999 36 
			 1998 34 
		
	
	(34) From and for the year 2000, in line with general performance tables practice, figures for LEAs aggregates have been adjusted for asylum seekers and refugees, but national information has not been adjusted for these pupils.
	The increase in the proportion of pupils achieving a grade A*-C in each of English, maths and science in wholly selective LEAs—4 percentage points since 1998—is half the increase (of 8 percentage points) for pupils in wholly comprehensive authorities. In addition, the above figures have not been adjusted to take into account pupil's prior attainments at KS2 or KS3, or socio-economic circumstances of schools.
	For example, the proportion of pupils in mainstream, maintained schools 'known to be eligible for free school meals' in the 10 LEAs deemed wholly selective for grammar school ballots purposes is 11 per cent., compared with 17 per cent. in wholly comprehensive authorities, and nationally. Research has shown that lower levels of performance outcome are associated with lower levels of prior attainment and with higher levels of socio-economic disadvantage.

General Studies

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the content of general studies lessons is; whether general studies covers guidance on how to complete (a) health, (b) benefits and (c) career-related forms; and if he will make a statement on the value of general studies periods.

Stephen Twigg: All National Curriculum subjects in England provide opportunities to promote pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Explicit opportunities to promote pupils' development in these areas are provided in religious education, citizenship and the non-statutory framework for personal, social and health education (PSHE).
	PSHE helps to give pupils the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to lead confident, healthy, independent lives. They learn how to make confident, informed choices and decisions about issues that affect their health and well-being. They learn to use a range of financial tools and services, including budgeting and saving, in managing personal money; and to use career services to help them develop career management plans.
	Young people in years 9, 10 and 11 receive advice and support on careers and work, including career-related forms, through careers education and guidance programmes delivered by their school, supported by independent information, advice and guidance on learning and career options from the Connexions Service.
	There is no GCSE or pre-16 subject of general studies. The awarding bodies do offer an A level course in general studies.

Higher Education

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimates were made of the delay times in repayments to the Treasury if graduate tax were adopted in place of tuition fees, when drawing up the proposals in the policy document, The Future of Higher Education; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: The length of time to realise a particular tax revenue depends critically upon the assumptions being made. Given the number of variables, there is no single answer. In particular, it is sensitive to assumptions about the rate of additional tax and the threshold above which the tax is paid.
	For example, the income threshold at which repayments begin under the loans system is higher than for most taxes (currently £10,000, rising to £15,000 in April 2005), but the rate at which repayments are made is also substantially higher than would be likely under a graduate tax system (9 per cent. of income over the threshold until the loan is fully recovered). Moreover, students and employers have the option to repay early any sums owed and evidence shows a significant number do so. This combination of factors means that the Government are more likely to recover "repayments" more quickly under a loans system than under a graduate tax system.

Higher Education

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what arrangements he will make for accreditation of the (a) professional and (b) teaching skills of (i) full-time and (ii) part-time further education lecturers in connection with conditions on their continuing ability to teach in colleges.

Margaret Hodge: "Success for All" sets out our aim of a fully qualified workforce in further education colleges by 2010. Regulations introduced in 2001 require new lecturers to be qualified to teach within two years if they are full-time, or four years if they are part-time. There is no requirement for existing staff to become qualified, but we have set a target that 90 per cent. of full-time staff and 60 per cent. of part-time staff will be qualified to teach, or enrolled on appropriate courses, by 2006. Enabling powers to make further regulations were secured in the Education Act (section 136). The Learning and Skills Council is currently consulting on arrangements to achieve this and other targets.

Higher Education

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the annual cost of compliance with access regulation requirements falling on the higher education sector.

Margaret Hodge: The last review on regulatory requirements falling on the higher education sector was carried out by the Better Regulation Task Force. I am placing a copy of the report in the House Library for reference. From this month, Professor VandeLinde, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Warwick, will be chairing a task force to ensure that the burden of bureaucracy in higher education is reduced and kept to a minimum. The task force will help to ensure that significant new initiatives such as access regulation, will not place any disproportionate new burden on the sector.

National Curriculum

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what periods of history are studied in the schools curriculum from year 7 to year 13; and what choice is available to students wanting to specialise in certain areas;
	(2)  if he will require the history syllabus in the schools curriculum to cover all periods of history by year 11.

Stephen Twigg: History is a compulsory part of the national curriculum in England for all pupils in years 1–9, that is key stages 1–3.
	The programmes of study for history require that pupils are taught knowledge, skills and understanding through various areas of study. At key stages 2 and 3 these include studies of local history, British history, European and world history. Certain periods are compulsory including at key stage 2, the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, or Vikings in Britain, the Tudors and, either the Victorians, or Britain since 1930. At key stage 3 all pupils have to study key features of British history in a time span ranging from 1066 to the impact on Britain of the Cold War. Primary and secondary schools do have some discretion over the detailed content of their history courses as long as the statutory requirements are met.
	The full requirements of the history national curriculum can be seen at www.nc.uk.net.
	Beyond key stage 3 of the national curriculum, history is an optional subject and the content of courses are determined by the awarding bodies through their examination specifications for GCSE and A level history. QCA is responsible for approving these specifications. There is considerable choice in the GCSE, AS and A levels currently available, and it is up to schools to choose which course of study best meets the needs of their students.
	We are committed, as part of our review of 14–19 education, to introducing an entitlement for students to study the humanities in years 10 and 11.

Learning and Skills Council

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the running costs of the Learning and Skills Council are in 2002–03; what the estimated figure is for (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC)'s core administration budget in each of the three years, 2002–03, 2003–04 and 2004–05 is £218 million. In addition, a further £17.9 million has been made available in 2002–03 mainly to cover one-off transition costs associated with establishing a new organisation. The LSC's core administration costs represent 2.9 per cent. of its total current budget from the Department for Education and Skills of £7,606 million, falling to 2.5 per cent. of its planned total budget in 2004–05. This represents good value for money and a saving of over £50 million on the cost of predecessor organisations.

Radioactive Waste

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what co-ordination has taken place with the Department for Trade and Industry to ensure that sufficient skills capacity is developed to deal with current and future volumes of radioactive waste through training in universities and research institutes.

Margaret Hodge: In 2002, the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) co-ordinated a study of the skilled population required for the application of nuclear and radiological technology, including waste management, power generation, health and defence. This was sponsored by several departments. The study considered the supply of skilled people over the next 15 years and recommended in its report that workforce development arrangements be included within the work of the evolving network of Sector Skills Councils. My Department is working closely with the Sector Skills Development Agency and the DTI to ensure that the nuclear industry is represented in the network.

Science

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of pupils educated in the state sector attained (a) level 5 and above and (b) level 6 and above in Key Stage 3 science in each year from 1999 to 2001.

David Miliband: The percentage of pupils in maintained schools who achieved (a) level 5 or above and (b) level 6 or above in Key Stage 3 science in each year from 1999–2001 is shown in the tables:
	
		
			  Key Stage 3 science test Key Stage 3 Science teacher assessment 
			  (a) Level 5 or above (b) Level 6 or above (a) Level 5 or above (b) Level 6 or above 
		
		
			  All maintained schools 
			 1999 55 24 60 29 
			 2000 59 29 62 30 
			 2001 66 34 64 32 
			  
			  Maintained mainstream schools only 
			 1999 55 24 61 30 
			 2000 60 30 63 31 
			 2001 67 34 65 32

Demountable Classrooms

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 6 February 2003, Official Report, column 357W, on demountable classrooms, whether he is now able to plan a visit to the St. Andrews junior and infant schools in Colchester to inspect the demountable classrooms.

David Miliband: Further to the answer given on 6 February by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State London Schools, I would hope to include a visit St. Andrew's Junior and Infant Schools when I am next in the Colchester area.

Tuition Fees

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations he has received on collusion between higher education institutions in the setting of tuition fees; and what mechanism he uses to prevent collusion.

Margaret Hodge: Under current arrangements, the level of tuition fees for full-time undergraduate courses in England is fixed and the question of collusion does not arise.
	Our future plans for higher education make clear each university will need to have in place an Access Agreement with the independent Access Regulator before they are allowed to increase tuition fees above the current fee. Each university will be treated independently.

Parliamentary Questions

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many named day written questions were tabled to the Department between 15 October 2002 and 24 February 2003; how many that received a holding answer were given a substantive answer (a) within three days, (b) within seven days, (c) within 14 days, (d) within 28 days and (e) over 28 days later; and what procedures the Department has in place to monitor performance on answering (i) parliamentary questions and (ii) ministerial letters.

Stephen Twigg: The information requested is contained in the following table:
	
		
			  Number of questions 
		
		
			 Total number of named day written questions tabled to this Department between 15 October 2002 and 24 February. 409 
			 Number of questions answered on the named day 167 
			 Number of questions for which a holding reply was issued and a substantive reply sent within three business days 154 
			 Number of questions for which a holding reply was issued and a substantive reply sent between four and seven business days 68 
			 Number of questions for which a holding reply was issued and a substantive reply sent between eight and 14 business days 15 
			 Number of questions for which a holding reply was issued and a substantive reply sent between 15 and 28 business days 5 
			 Number of questions for which a holding reply was issued and a substantive reply sent after 29 business days 0 
		
	
	The provision of quality responses in a timely manner to both parliamentary questions and ministerial letters is one we take very seriously. Outstanding parliamentary questions are monitored on a daily basis by the parliamentary section and reviewed weekly by the parliamentary clerk. The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on performance of departments in replying to ministerial correspondence. The report for 2001 was published on Friday 24 May 2002, column 674W. The report for 2002 will be published in due course.